When Finnick Met Annie
by TrustMeI'mTheDoctor
Summary: The whole story of how Finnick and Annie met.
1. Reaping Day

I close my eyes and run my hands through the sand of the beach my best friend and I are currently laying on. The sound of boats hitting the docks, seagulls squawking, and men shouting fills our ears as we stare up into the sunny sky. For all we know, today might be the last day we get to do this.

"How many times is your name in?" Francesca asks me, sitting up and brushing sand out of her short hair. She has dark brown eyes and a button nose with freckles dotting her sun burnt face, a scar grazes her left cheek. A scar she earned from her job at the factory when a machine exploded.

"Twenty, how about you?" I reply, gazing out at the ocean that seems to never end. It's summer, the end of June to be exact, and the Hunger Games are beginning.

For those of you who don't know, the Hunger Games is a game designed by the head honchos of Panem who control the Capitol and all of the twelve Districts. Each summer at the end of June two children, a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are Reaped from their Districts and taken to the Capitol to be trained for a battle to the death. They and twenty-two other Tributes are put into an arena so large it could take months to cover the entire thing; these arenas can have a terrain of anything from wet and humid jungle to a dry desert. Although the Gamemakers didn't seem to like the year with the desert since half of the tributes died from dehydration instead of each other.

Francesca looks over at me and squints against the glair of the sun, "eighteen."

"That's good," I say, smiling, "You probably won't get picked."

"You have to say that, just like I have to say it to you." She puts on a smile and says reassuringly, "Don't worry Annie, you probably won't get picked."

I don't laugh or smile, "I mean it, Hannah King's is in it forty two times. And there are only so few girls in District 4."

Francesca scowls, "If I get chosen I'm going to kill myself."

"Don't say that."

"I will, I don't want to have to kill others to stay alive, I want to die on my own will."

"I know, but you won't get picked." I repeat and then the bell sounds for the workers to return home and kids to go back to their families for the night.

Francesca and myself stand up and brush off our shorts and legs of the sticky sand. We part ways and I go to find my father, who should be coming in from being out on the water catching more fish that we never get to eat.

District 4 is the Capitol's fishing industry, we tend to be overlooked, but if I weren't for us the Capitol people wouldn't have their fish or their seaweed colored bread that is shaped like a fish.

District 4 does not have many Career Tributes. We've had a few, they don't volunteer for each other but they train. For instance, Finnick Odair, the 65th Hunger Games winner who is so attractive the sight of his smile and wink send Capitol girls into shock. Finnick Odair, the boy, well now man, who won the Games single handedly at age fourteen by trapping his opponents with fishing nets and then spearing them with a trident. Then there is Mags, now an older woman who has seen much in her time. She was winner of the 9th Hunger Games, but I'm fairly certain she was not a Career.

Since Finnick, our Tributes have been killed off easily, either fallen into traps, starved, trusted the wrong people, or were not able to handle the terrain they were put in.

The Reaping is tomorrow and a sort of panic has come over District 4, there are no happy children in the streets, no smiles on peoples faces, even the fishermen with no families are dreading tomorrow morning.

I find father chatting with his friend Samuel, they have been friends since their childhood's, which is a long time, I might add. As they see me approaching, their conversation dies and father greets me with a smile and the smell of fish.

"Hey darling, ready to go home?" He asks; a nervous smile played across his face. "Big day tomorrow."

I look at him skeptically, "Yeah, very big. Can I get a head start? You seem to be in the middle of something."

"No, no, no, we were just finishing up." Father waves goodbye to Samuel and we walk home with the sun setting behind us.

When we arrive home Charlie greets us and we all go inside to have a meal of bread that I had made earlier that day. It has a fishy taste to it, which I have come to loathe. But around here you can't be picky.

All the houses in District 4 are on the water. The houses are built on large and sturdy docks that hold each house separately. There is only one door in the house and that is the front, if there were to be a door in the back it would lead directly into the water. The houses jut out off of a long strip of dock, which goes on for about a mile, there are four of these in the District. The four larger Docks then connect to the town; the fifth dock is for the fisherman and the boats.

After I eat I go up to my room and lay on my bed, breathing and thinking about the day to come. Charlie might be reaped and same with me. What if I am reaped? It won't be all that bad will it? I'm smart and strong; I could handle myself couldn't I? Not against those District 1 and District 2 careers. Against them I have no chance.

After pondering these horrible thoughts of multiple ways I could end up dying in the Games I dose off into an anything but peaceful sleep.

The next morning I awake to the sound of feet hurrying around on the floor below me. I sit bolt upright and rub my tired eyes when I remember: today is Reaping day. I scramble out of bed and look out the window in my room, it's late morning and the Reaping is at twelve o'clock. I hurry down stairs and wolf down breakfast. Father and Charlie are hurrying as well.

"I was just coming to wake you," Father says as I enter the kitchen and eat some bread and cheese, "You have to hurry, I'm ready and so is Charlie."

I look at Charlie, fourteen years old, already working everyday to help provide for his family, strong, brave, and kind Charlie is the most important person in my life. But today, instead of being the stronger of my father and I, Charlie looks like just another scared fourteen year old who might be picked to fight to the death.

I finished wolfing down my breakfast and walk over to Charlie,

"Hey, it's going to be okay," I rub his shoulders and squat down so I'm at eye level with him, "You're name is only in three times, there are tons of boys in 4."

Charlie blinks a few times and looks out the window, then back at me, "I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you. Your name is in twenty times, Annie. Twenty! What if you get chosen?"

"If I get chosen I'll do everything I can to win." I tell him, "I need to go get dressed now."

I head up to my room and take out my mother's light blue dress that has faded to almost white. It has thick straps that go over my shoulders and it ties behind my back. It comes to my knees and makes me look much taller than I am. When I step into a pair of sandals I return to my normal height. I brush my hair out and then put it up in a ponytail and straighten out my messy bangs. I brush my teeth and then head down stairs, knowing this might be the last time I'll ever be in my house.

Father tells me I look nice and then we all step out of the house and join to crowd of people walking towards the Justice Hall in the middle of town. I take Charlie's hand in mine and he smile up at me,

"Everything is going to be fine," I say once more.

We are separated from father when they take us to get our blood sample. Charlie is in front of me and I watch as people in white suits prick his finger with a fancy device. Before I know it I'm getting my finger pricked and then being ushered into a crowed of girls my age. Charlie is taken over to the boys and I make sure to keep and eye on him.

I search for Francesca and I spot her frantically pulling at her dress and looking around. I hurry up next to her and she jumps when I say hello, she looks scared and wide-eyed,

"What's the matter?" I asked her taking her hand in mine, "You aren't going to get picked."

"I'm not worried about that anymore Annie, I—I can't tell you." She glances around as if she knows she is being watched.

"Why can't you tell me? I'm your best friend."

"Annie, you don't understand, they'll kill me." She whispers.

"Who?" I ask, but before she can answer somebody taps on the microphone.

"Good morning!" Shouts a giddy gentleman dressed in a bright pink suit, golden shoes and a golden tie to match. He has his hair up in a bun on the top of his head and his face is covered in makeup.

"Happy Hunger Games!" He says, its Roman Fleur, "I hope you all are prepared because today is a very special day for everyone! Two brave tributes will be chosen to participate in the 70th Hunger Games!" He claps but he is the only one.

He frowns slightly but hid giddiness does not go away, "Now, ladies first!" He walks over to a fish bowl filled with names and digs around until he is satisfied with one and pulls it out. He opens the flap of paper, clears his throat and reads, loud and clearly,

"Annie Cresta!"

My heart stops and I feel Francesca's hand fall from mine, I look at her horror struck, she has tears in her eyes and somewhere in the distance I'm being called up onto the stage.

A path clears as I make my way up to the stage in a fog, I briefly see Charlie crying and I want to tell him everything is going to be okay, but when I try to speak nothing comes out. I step onto the stage and Roman places an arm around my shoulders, he is smiling. Why is he smiling?

"Well aren't you just the cutest little thing!" He gushes at me, my brows furrow. Who does he think he is? "Well, now," He continues, "Time for the boys!"

He saunters back over to the bowls and chooses the one on the left. Instead of digging around he picks the first one his hand comes in contact with. He holds the paper up and opens it,

"Phineas Larsson!" He says giddily.

I search the crowd for Phineas; I've only seen him at school and I've never talked to him. He is much younger than I am and from what I can tell very quiet. I spot a gap in the crowd forming and Phineas makes his way up to the stage, water forming in his eyes.

Roman helps him onto the stage and he stands next to me. He has sun-bleached hair and tanned skin, dark brown eyes and long lashes. He can't be older than thirteen.

"Well shake hands." Urges Roman, we shake hands and then return to our stock straight position.

"Well here you have it!" Roman calls out at the crowd, "Your Tributes for the 70th Annual Hunger Games!" He starts clapping and only a few people in the crowd clap. Most people just stare.

I spot my father who is looking downcast and then I see Charlie, tears streaming down his cheeks. Roman grabs both of our arms and hurries us into the Justice Hall.

"Your family's will come to visit you just go wait in those rooms. They'll show you."

I'm taken by the arm by a Peacekeeper and led into a wooded room that looks like an office or a library. I take a seat on the couch and feel the soft fabric. It's velvet.

I stand up and make my way over to the window, the crowd is beginning to disperse and Peacekeepers and other Capitol workers are cleaning up the stage we were just taken off of.

The door opens and Charlie and father come in. Charlie wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me; father hugs me as well.

"Do whatever it takes to live," Charlie tells me after he pulls away from the hug, "Whatever it takes."

"Okay, I will."

Father hugs me again and places a hand in my hair, "I love you." He closes his eyes and I feel a tear land on my shoulder.

"I love you to." I reply, "Don't worry, I'm going to win. No matter what."

A Peacekeeper comes into the room and takes Charlie and Father's arms,

"I love you!" I shout. Charlie struggles against the pull of the Peacekeeper.

"No!" He's shouting, "I love you!" Then they are gone and the door slams behind them.

"I love you too." I whisper. The next person to come into the room is Francesca; she has tears in her eyes. She latches her arms around my neck and cries into my shoulder.

"Its okay," I say soothingly, "I'm going to come back."

"I know you will," She chokes out, "I just, I won't be here when you're back."

"What do you mean? Where are you going?"

She grabs my shoulders and pulls me close whispering into my ear the words that will forever change my life.

"The Capitol killed my parents, I'm next." Then a Peacekeeper enters the room and pulled her away.

"No!" I shout, "No! Let her go!" I hurry after her but the door slams and locks after they leave.

I sit on the couch and burry my face in my hands. I let the tears out before I'm in front of others and then I wipe away the evidence that they were ever there with my dress. About ten minutes later two Peacekeepers enter the room and I'm escorted out of the room and down the train station. Then I'm put on a train with Phineas.

The train is amazing, the walls are silver and chandeliers hang from the ceiling, I enter a room with a small seating area and about ten tables filled with food. Pastries, steaks, chicken, fish, pasta, chocolate, bread, fruit, and a large roasted pig. My mouth drops and I go around the room smelling the food and picking up small things and plucking them into my mouth.

"You can have more of it you know, it's there for both of you," Says a voice.

I jump and accidently knock over a plate of blueberries onto the floor, blueberries go everywhere and the sound of glass breaking fills the room. I look at the person who scared me and see that it is Finnick Odair; I would recognize him anywhere.

Bronzed hair, tanned skin, sea green eyes, the body of a God. He walks over to Phineas and sticks his hand out at him,

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Finnick." He flashes a smile and Phineas shakes his hand.

I walk over to him, "I'm Annie, Annie Cresta." We shake hands and then I ask, "Are you our mentor?"

"Of course," Finnick picks up a cup and fills it with coffee, "You want one?" He asks me.

"Sure, thanks." He hands me the first cup he filled and get another for himself. He drops two sugar cubes in his,

"Want a sugar cube?" He asks.

"Yes, just one please," he drops a sugar cube into my cup and then takes a sip of his.

"So, lets get to know each other," He says to both Phineas and I. We all sit down in the seating area and Finnick leans forward. Phineas stares at him strangely and I sip my coffee.

"So, lets start with you Phineas, how old are you?"

Phineas gulps, "thirteen."

"You're young, how old are you Annie?"

"Seventeen, how old are you?"

"Nineteen." Finnick crushes the plastic cup his coffee had been in and throws it into the trash can next to my seat. Finnick stares at both of us.

"Are you going to give us advice on how to live or just sit there?" I ask, slightly frustrated at his smug look.

"What advice is there to give, besides to stay alive?"

"Well, how did you survive? That could help, or maybe how to find food and water easily?" I huff.

Finnick chuckles, "I survived by trapping my opponents in a fishing net and spearing them. I was also a Career, are either of you Careers?"

"Never had time," I reply and finished my coffee, throwing the cup away.

Finnick turns to Phineas, "How about you?"

Phineas shakes his head.

"Well then we have a lot of work to do. Mags will be here shortly; she is the other mentor. She'll probably be with you most of the time Phineas, she's great don't worry." Finnick smile reassuringly at Phineas and then turns to me, "That means we will be spending a lot of time together."

"Great," I smile. An old woman enters the room and comes over to us.

"Hope you aren't scaring them Finnick." Mags smiles and pats Finnick's shoulder.

"I'm Mags," She shakes my hand and then Phineas'. "I suppose I'll be with Phineas," She smiles at him," We are going to be great friends." She winks at Finnick and she takes Phineas' hand and leads him off somewhere.

I watch them leave and then realize Finnick is staring at me.

"What?" I ask him.

He chuckles. What the hell is so funny?

"What's so funny?"

"You, you're avoiding my eyes," He changes his smiling eyes into seductive ones, "Do you find my eyes, hypnotizing?" He wiggles is eyebrows and, no matter how hard I try, I can't help cracking up laughing. I'm laughing so hard I accidently snort and then my face goes red. Now it's Finnick's turn to laugh.

"Not funny," I giggle, "I can't help it if I snort when I laugh."

Finnick wipes his eyes and then chuckles some more, "No, no it's cute, don't worry." We laugh some more and then Finnick returns back to the topic of the day.

"So, I have to ask you, do you have any strengths…weaknesses?"

I fidget with my bangs and reply, "I'm good at hiding, I guess. I'm also pretty smart, well that's what I've been told."

"Hmm, that's great!" He claps his hands and looks out the train window, "It's getting late, and you should go change before dinner. Roman is always getting on people about their clothes."

I giggle, "Does he know what he is wearing?"

Finnick smiles and shakes his head, "I don't know."

I stand up and walk over to the door leading to the hallway when I realize I have no idea where my bedroom is.

"Umm, hey Finnick?"

He turns around, "Yeah?"

"Where are the bedrooms?" I blush and try to hide it but I'm fairly certain Finnick can see it. He smiles, stands up, and walks over to me. I step aside to let him lead the way but he still comes incredibly close to me in order to slip into the hall. After he passes I smile and follow him down the hall.

We come to a stop after passing about twelve other rooms and Finnick opens the door to a medium sized room with a large bed in it. He stands in the doorway and when I pass him we come incredibly close again. Finnick reminds me not to be late for dinner and then leaves.

I plop myself down on the bed and spread out my arms and legs. There was still tons of room on the bed. I get out of bed and go over to the bathroom; it's small but has a large shower that I immediately try.

I strip down and step into the shower. I go to pull a handle but I realize there isn't a handle anywhere; instead there is a panel of silver buttons. I press a button, which I figure should be water. Instead of water coming out of the shower head like I had planned it would, a bolt of it comes out of the side of the wall and hits me in the side.

"OW!" I shout and press another button, trying to turn it off while also trying to dodge the deadly stream of water. I press another button and a fan of water comes out of the wall and hits me in the face. This one doesn't hurt but I can't see anything. I dodge the bolt of water and the fan that hit in the face and press another button. The stream and the fan stops and I sigh in relief.

I stare at the panel carefully and examine each button. Every single one is silver and round.

"Damn, all I want is a shower!" I huff to myself. I decide to take a chance and press the first button my finger comes in contact with. Nothing happens so I press it again. Suddenly, lightning fast streams of water come out of every single side of the shower and seem to target me no matter where I go. I scream and try to dodge the water.

I can't see anything because if I open my eyes I bound to get blinded by more water. I press buttons on the panel but nothing helps, the water just gets colder and in some places extremely hot. I scream in anger and do my best to dodge the water.

I hear footsteps out in my room and then there is a knock on the door,

"Annie?" Oh great, it's Finnick, "Are you okay? I'm coming in."

"No! Are you crazy!" I let out a grunt of pain as a stream of water hits my cheek, "I'm naked and in the shower!" I can almost hear Finnick smiling, "I'm fine, I've got this under control! Shit!" I scream in pain as another stream of water hit my throat. I cough and then recover.

"I won't look!" Finnick shouts and then enters the bathroom that is now filled with smoke. I crack an eye open and see that he does truly have his eyes closed. He feels around and grabs a towel from the rack. Then comes over to the shower, opens the door, and grabs my hand. Pulling me out of the shower and away from the deadly streams of water. I quickly grab the towel and wrap it around myself.

"Can I open my eyes?" He asks and I giggle and say yes. He cracks his eyes open and then blinks a few times and opens them completely.

"What did you do?" He asks me, "You were screaming like you were dying. The Peacekeepers almost came in here to check on you but I told them I better do it."

I tuck a strand of wet hair behind my ear, "I was trying to take a shower but I couldn't figure how to work the damn thing."

Finnick starts laughing, "You have no idea how many times Tributes have said that same exact thing to me." He looks at the shower, which is still spurting out streams of burning hot water and ice cold water. He kicks off his shoes and steps into the shower, dodging the streams like he had done this everyday of his life, and then presses a button and all the streams die down. My mouth has fallen open.

"Come here," He says and I walk into the shower. He points to the third button and says, "This is the water for the head, okay? And these buttons," He points to the first button and the one below it, "Are to adjust the temperature." Then his hand glides over the buttons until he is in the fourth from last row, "The buttons from here down are soaps and scents, okay?" He smiles at me.

"Okay, thanks Finnick." I step out of the shower and realize that he is soaking wet. His shirt sticking to his muscle clad torso. I can see the outline of his abs and pecks and when he turns around to shut the shower door I can see his shoulder muscles. I bite my lip and tilt my head to get a better look at him. The things I've heard about him from the Capitol are true, he is simply a gorgeous man.

He turns around and I quickly pull my towel tighter and act like I haven't just been checking him out. He smiles and exits the bathroom with his shoes in hand.

"Be careful with the shower," He chuckles as he heads to the doorway, he stops for a moment, "See you at dinner."

I'm so stupid, I think. You can't be friendly with him. You're probably going to die by next week anyway. This is so not time to be making friends.

I rummage around in the closet and find a plain black t-shirt and a pair of shorts and put that on. I brush out my wet hair and straighten my bangs, and then I step into a pair of slippers and head back towards the room filled with food for dinner.

Phineas, Mags, Finnick, and Roman are already seated and I sit in the only open seat, which happens to be next to Finnick. He has changed his soaking wet t-shirt and is not in a black one that matches mine. I smile at everyone and take a seat.

For dinner we have everything from steak to chicken and Lamb stew to spaghetti. I take a steak and place it on my plate, then dish out a side of mash potatoes and dig in. The food is amazing! It's so much better than fish.

After everyone finishes eating we all sit around and talk about game plans.

"When you first get into the arena you have to remember not to step off of the plate before the gong sounds. One year a girl dropped something and she was blown up." Warns Mags.

"There will be the cornucopia with supplies in it," Begins Finnick, "Don't go for it, it's always a bloodbath. Just get as far away from the cornucopia as possible. Supplies normally are spread out around the cornucopia and if you see something as you're running away grab it. But only then, understand?" He tells us. Phineas and I both nod.

"I'm surprised both of you are taking everything so well," Says Mags, patting Phineas on the back, "Most kids cry the entire time." That's what I want to do. I want to cry my eyes out. But I can't seem week. I have to be strong for Charlie.

"I can't imagine why, it's such an honor." Roman adds, pompously. "You to should feel extremely honored." Something in side me snaps.

"Honored about what?" I ask him, "Honored that we might die?"

"No, no, no, you don't understand—" He begins but I cut him off.

"No I don't think you understand, Roman," I say his name mockingly, "I might die in that arena, I'm probably going to have to kill somebody in that arena, Phineas is only thirteen and he is probably going to have to kill somebody. Do you know what that does to a person? Taking another kids life? No you don't, do you? I think we should put all of you pompous hosts into the arena one year and see what happens. You would probably get killed off so quick you wouldn't even have time to scream."

Everyone's mouths are hanging open; Roman looks shocked and can't speak. I throw my napkin on my plate and stand up,

"I'm not hungry anymore." I exit the room and begin running when I'm out of their sight.

I run into my room, slam the door behind me, and jump onto the bed. All the emotions come rushing back to me; I might never see my family again, my best friend told me she was going to be murdered, I'm going to have to murder somebody. I'm probably going to get murdered. And for what exactly? Some sick game! I just want to curl up in a ball and die peacefully, on my own will.

There is a knock at the door and I choke out an angry leave me alone. I know its Finnick, he is my mentor and he is supposed to help me when I'm like this.

"Annie, just let me talk to you." He pleads. He knocks lightly again and when I don't answer he comes in.

"I said leave me alone," I grumble into the pillow. Finnick sits down next to me and places a hand on my shoulder; I tense up but decide that takes to much effort, especially when his hand is so soft and warm.

"Look, Annie," He begins, "I know this is tough and I know Roman is horrible but you're going to make it."

I sit up and wipe my eyes before laughing coldly, "Finnick, look at me! I'm scrawny, weak, and I look like a scared baby for crying out loud!" I begin crying again as fear now takes over my body. "Finnick, I'm scared. I just want to go home."

Finnick is surprisingly good at comforting people, he takes both my hands, "Annie, you're going to live, you're going to live for your brother. I'll do everything I can to help you prepare for the Games. Okay?" When I just continue crying Finnick hugs me and I cry into his shoulder.

"You're not weak Annie, you're anything but weak."

"How would you know? You don't know me."

"But I know your father."

"You—you know my dad?"

He nods, "I use to work at the docks with him. I saw you around a few times, helping out." He smiles and I relax in his arms. "Your dad and my dad were close, before my dad died. Your dad help my mom get through it all, you were a lot younger I don't know if you remember."

"No I remember," I was seven years old when died. Finnick was nine. "We came over to your house everyday." I continue, "You were so quiet. Then when my mom died your mom helped us out, she brought us food and stayed with me when my dad was out. She said you were working all the time."

"She told me you never cried in front of your brother, that you stayed strong for him. If I know one thing Annie, it's that that takes a lot of strength."

I pull myself out of the hug and wipe my eyes, Finnick looks sad and I give him a hug and thank him for his help. He gets off the bed and heads to the door,

"Goodnight, Annie." Finnick says and disappears into the hallway.

"Night Finnick."

That night I dreamed about my mom.


	2. Chariots and Trust

"So how good is your aim?" Finnick asks me at breakfast the next morning. I'm wolfing down a waffle and his random question makes me remember other people are around me and I probably look crazy. I swallow and take a sip of milk.

"Pretty good, why?"

"Because I'm your mentor and I need to know these things. He takes a stab at his sausage and eats it.

After breakfast I shower, without any problems, and then get dressed in another plain shirt and shorts. I stare at my legs and realize that they are incredibly scarred. I've got cuts on my feet and one long jagged scar in my thigh. They stand out against my tanned skin, which makes me very self-conscious.

I'm examining my legs in the mirror when Finnick stops by,

"Oh, sorry, didn't realize you were changing." He goes to close the door but I stop him.

"No, I'm not changing I was just, uh, I don't know what I was doing but I wasn't changing." I blush and Finnick laughs.

"Okay well, we'll be at the Capitol soon so be ready," He closes the door and I'm left alone again. I look out my window as the Capitol comes into view. It's huge.

I decide to put on my dress I wore at the Reaping and as I'm doing so the train comes to a halt. I step into my shoes and go into the hallway. Finnick greets me and leads me to the train door.

When the doors slide open flashing cameras and tons of people blind me. Phineas and Mags are behind us and I can tell Phineas is nervous. My breathing is quick and I realize I'm extremely nervous as well

"Just smile and look happy," Finnick whispers in my ear, "I'm right behind you."

"I can't do it," I'm beginning to panic.

"Yes you can, now come on." Finnick steps out of the train and sticks his hand out to help me out of the train. I take it and when I'm on the ground Finnick places a hand on my back and helps guide me down the train station to where our car awaits us. Cameras take pictures and people are yelling questions at me. I smile and wave at them all. Behind Finnick and I, Mags is guiding Phineas but Phineas is not waving, nor smiling. His eyes are on the ground. I continued smiling and Finnick whispers,

"You're doing great," Into my ear, his hot breath on my neck. I smile brighter and blow kisses to the crowd. They all go crazy.

Finally we arrive at the cars and a tall man in a suit opens the door for us; Finnick allows me to go in first and I do, then he slides in next to me.

"That was great!" He congratulates me. I smile nervously.

"I'm so nervous right now I feel like I could throw up"

Finnick just laughs, "If you keep that attitude up you're going to get tons of sponsors."

Mags and Phineas enter the car next and then the man shuts the door and we drive off. We are taken to a large apartment building and ushered into an elevator that goes really fast. We are on the twentieth floor and the apartment is huge.

It is two floors; the first floors houses the living room, kitchen, dining room and a gym. Then the second floor is where all the bedrooms are. Off on the first floor there is a balcony, which over looks the entire Capitol.

"Go look around," Mags says, "You'll love your bedrooms they're huge."

"And the buttons on these showers are easier to understand," Finnick chuckles at me

"Oh shut up," I reply, pushing back his shoulder and then heading up stairs to check out my new bedroom.

When I arrive in the room I'm in shock. It is huge! The bed is located in the middle of the room and one large window takes up a whole wall, giving me a perfect view of the city. A remote control is sitting on a table next to the bed and I pick it up, examining it. I touch a button and the image of the Capitol changes to a forest. I click another button and it changes to open water. I'm on a boat looking out at the ocean. There isn't a beach, just water.

I leave it on that while I change into a blue t-shirt that I found in the closet and a pair of jean shorts as well. My closet is filled with shirts, pants, dresses, and shoes. I've never seen this many clothes in my life. Back home I have only a few shirt and two pairs of pants, one jacket and my mothers dress, then a pair of boots for work and sandals for the reaping.

I return to staring at the ocean when I notice something strange, a dark shadow moving under the water. I move closer to the screen and realize what it is. It's a shark! I've always wanted to see one, not be in the water with one but just see one. Like from a window. I guess this is the closest I'll ever get. I stare at the shark as its fin surfaces and I smile brightly. It's beautiful.

"Annie!" Finnick is calling me. I hurry out of my room and go downstairs. Finnick is standing and chatting with a group of peculiar looking people. Three of them to be exact.

One of them has a bright pink Afro that looks like cotton candy; she also has light blue skin. The second has purple and yellow striped hair that is cut short like Francesca's, but this person's hair is spiky, and his skin is almost orange. The third one had long curly hair that is bleached blonde, her skin is a pinkish color and her eyes are a golden color.

"This is your prep team." Finnick explains, seeing the shocked look on my face, "They are going to help you get ready for tonight."

"Right!" It dons on me that tonight is the night where we have to ride in the chariots and look pretty for President Snow. Great. "Right, so what am I going to wear?"

"Oh we don't know that," Says the one with pink hair in a high pitched voice, "We just have to clean you up and make you look pretty."

"Okay then."

"Remember what I said," Begins Finnick, "No surgery, no altering her in any way that is permanent."

The prep team looks extremely disappointed, the one with long blonde hair whines,

"But she could be so pretty, if you would just let us shrink those eyes."

I'm about to say something rude but Finnick says something first,

"Her eyes look great the way they are," I blush as Finnick continues, "You just clean her up a little."

"Fine," they all grumble and then they grab my hands and pull me along down the hall. I'm taken into a room that I didn't know was there and I am stripped of my clothes and then forced to lye down on a metal table that is uncomfortable.

They begin by waxing my legs, under my arms, and on my arms. I let out grunts of pain as they rip away the sheets of wax. Once they're done with that torturous act they move onto my eyebrows. Plucking away at the hairs to make them perfect. That hurts as well. When they are done with that I am stuck into a bathtub and scrubbed clean. They scrub me so hard that it burns. After they are done with that, they trim my hair to get rid of split ends and do the same to my bangs. Then they take away my robe and examine my hairless body. I'm poked and prodded by fingers with pointy nails on them and then finally they all say,

"You look almost pretty!"

"Jeez, thanks."

"Pixie will be in shortly, to take one last look at you and then talk to you about your dress." Then they all leave and I'm left standing, naked and alone in a cold metal room.

About five minutes later a tall woman with pale skin and reddish hair comes in the room. She has on liquid eyeliner forming a cat eye, long dark lashes, and hot red lipstick. She is gorgeous.

"I'm pixie," She says as she circles around me, examining my body. "I'm your stylist." She lifts a piece of my hair up and twirls it in her fingers. "I love your hair. It's beautiful."

"Thank you." I say.

She stares at my face for a moment, deciding something, and then she leans against the metal table. She places a finger on her cheek in deep thought.

"I'm going to make you look like a mermaid," She claps her hands together, "That's it. But don't worry, I won't give you a tail or make you where seashells instead of a top. Just as if you came from the water. Your dress will be a sea blue with flecks of green in the skirt; there will also be flecks of gold in it as well. I want your skirt to look like a reef. That means that your skirt will have tons of colors in it. The top of your dress will just be a beautiful blue. Your hair will be left down and I am going to put a golden crown of coral around you head."

I'm blown away, that dress sound gorgeous, "That sounds amazing."

"It will be, don't worry." She hands be a robe and tells me to go eat something, that she could hear my stomach growl from down the hall. I giggle and leave the room, finally warm and comfy.

In the kitchen I search for food but realize we have none. Then I see a menu sitting on the counter and grab it. I guess I'm supposed to tell one of the Avox's what I want. I kindly ask one of the Avox for a salad and they leave the room to go get it.

I sit down on the sofa and Phineas soon joins me.

"How is your prep team?" I ask him.

"Horrible, you?"

I chuckle, "Pretty bad, but I like my stylist, how about you?"

He nods, "My stylist is nice, he seems normal."

"You hungry?"

He nods.

"There is a menu over on the counter you can order anything you want."

Phineas gets up and goes into the kitchen to pick out his lunch. Finnick and Mags walk in next and an Avox returns with my salad, I say thank you and she leaves.

"We have to talk about tonight," Says Finnick as I eat my salad.

"Phineas could you come over here, please." Mags calls over to him, he hurries over and plops himself down on the couch.

"Tonight is very important, it is your first public appearance and this defines who you are in the games." Says Mags, "Your theme is water, correct?"

Phineas and I both nod.

"Your going to have to wave and please the crowd," Explains Finnick, "Phineas I know you're nervous but this can't be like when we got off the train, you have to smile and act proud."

Phineas nods and I ask, "How long are we going to be out there?"

"Probably about thirty minutes," Answers Mags, "You're going to ride down the runway and then President Snow is going to give a few words, then you come back here."

"That's not bad," I say, reassured.

"Yeah, don't eat anything to heavy before the show though," Says Finnick, "Cause you might throw it up, it's pretty nerve racking being out there in front of all those people."

"Right," I say, "Why wouldn't it be nerve racking?"

A few hours later, after I've finished eating and brushed my teeth twice on the orders of my prep team, I'm put into a car with Finnick and driven to a building a few blocks away from where the show will take place.

Finnick bids me goodbye and tells me he will be right outside, and then Pixie takes me into a room to get me ready. I'm stripped naked again and Pixie and the prep team help me into my dress, which is gorgeous.

The skirt is tight and appears to have ripples in with all sorts of colors in them. I spot different shades of blues, greens, corals, yellows, whites, and gold. It's beautiful. The top is just plain blue and it wraps over one of my shoulders like a toga. Pixie brushes out my hair and leaves it the way it is, which is tousled. She combs out my bangs and then begins my makeup. She puts a light dusting of bronzer on my cheekbones, which makes me glow, then puts on a coat of mascara to make my lashes longer and a bit darker, she finishes off the makeup with gold lipstick.

"You loo beautiful," She tells me, "But we aren't even done yet." She saunters over to a glass case that is perched on a table. She opens the lid and takes out a crown made or coral. But it isn't coral colored its golden. She walks back over to me and places it delicately on my head. She steps back and admires her work.

"You are going to be a hit," She tells me, "Come, come." She grabs me hand and leads me over to the mirror. The girl in the mirror is beautiful and fierce. That girl in the mirror is me.

"Oh my," I gasp, "I touch the dress and I realize the colors on the skirt seem to be moving. "Oh my god." I smile and I can't believe this is me. I'm beautiful!

"Don't you look fabulous?" Pixie smiles giddily at her handy work.

"Yes, I do look fabulous." I choke out, "Oh Pixie thank you!"

"Lets show Finnick."

For some reason I'm nervous about Finnick seeing me like this. Pixie walks over to the door, opens it and grabs Finnick's hand; he had been sitting outside the entire time.

"Finnick doesn't she look absolutely marvelous?" Pixie asks him with a smirk on her face. I turn around from admiring myself in the mirror and show myself to Finnick.

His eyes go wide, "Yes, she does. Wow Annie you look amazing!" He walks over to me and examines my dress. I noticed in the mirror how tight the dress was; it shows off all of my curves.

"You look beautiful."

I blush, "Thank you. Where's Phineas?"

Finnick is still staring at me, "Hmm, oh he is outside with Mags. Come on we have to get you guys on the chariot." Finnick helps me off the pedestal I had been standing on and guides me out of the stylist's room. I thank Pixie before Finnick leads me through a crowd of Tributes, his hand placed on my back again. This is the first time I had ever seen any of the others.

Heads turn as I walk by, mostly male heads but I noticed a few girl tributes gawking at me. Finnick notices people looking at me and hurries me out into another room; this one is filled with chariots. I spot Phineas and Mags and Phineas looks great as well. He is wearing a sea blue toga and is carrying a golden trident, he also has a crown of golden coral on his head.

Mags raises an eyebrow when she sees me. Finnick's hand drops from my back and Mags comes to examine me.

"You look beautiful."

"Wow! You look hot," Phineas laughs, "I bet heads turned when you walked through all those Tributes."

"They did, about all of the guy Tributes were staring at her." Finnick says, slightly annoyed.

I smile at him and then focus on Mags, "Isn't Pixie the best?"

"She sure did well."

"Okay, enough, time to get into the chariot." Finnick says, interrupting our girl moment. He helps me into the chariot and I spot other Tributes getting into theirs as well.

A blonde from District 3 grins at Finnick and then steps into her chariot. The boy keeps his eyes on me. He has dark hair and tanned skin. District 2 and District 1 load into their chariots and then everyone stops and listens to hear Caesar Flickerman talk over the intercom. He is hosting the event.

"Ladies and gentlemen get ready for you 70th Hunger Games Tributes to blow you away with their dazzling outfits and beautiful faces! Here, ladies and gentlemen, is District 1!" He roars and the first chariot begins to move down the mile long runway

The crowd goes wild and that's when I start to get nervous. I'm breathing heavily again and I start panicking. Finnick takes my hand,

"Annie," He says to me, I look at him, wide eyed and afraid, "They're going to love you, okay? You just have to smile, wave and blow kisses. Okay?" He rubs my hand with his thumb reassuringly and then the chariot starts to move. Finnick lets go of my hand and I turn to face the crowd of thousands.

"Oh isn't she beautiful!" Shouts Caesar, "Just incredible!" I realize I'm on a large screen and everyone can see my face. I do look great, except for the fact that I'm not smiling or waving like Finnick told me.

I mentally slap myself and smile brightly, I wave at the crowd. They go crazy for it. I blow kisses with both hands, people reach out to grab them and I blow more. I urge Phineas to wave and smile and he does.

"And such a crowd pleaser!" Flickerman adds.

Before we both know it we are at the end of the runway and President Snow is speaking,

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen! May I present to you the 70th Hunger Games Tributes? It is my honor to be the first person to wish you a happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor." Capitol music begins to play and the chariots begin to move back down the runway.

At the end I see Finnick and Mags smiling at us. Our chariot stops in front of them and Finnick opens the door and helps me out. Instead of stepping out I latch my arms around his neck and hug him.

"How did I do?" I ask him nervously. He sets me down on the ground and smiles brightly,

"You did wonderful! The audience loved you!"

"Phineas you did amazing!" Says Mags, all of the younger girls were swooning over you!"

Phineas blushes.

"Can we go home now?" I ask, "I mean to the apartment not home home."

"In a minute, the mentors are suppose to talk with sponsors for a few minutes then we can leave."

Finnick and Mags leave us and a tall boy with jet-black hair and a strong jawline immediately approaches me. He has to be District 1 or 2.

"I'm Michael," He lifts my hand and kisses it, "District 1," Knew it. "I have to say, you did great out there. That dress is amazing, you're so…curvy." He is incredibly seductive with those dark brown eyes he has.

"Thank you," I pull my hand away slowly and say, "You don't look to bad yourself."

Michael stares for a moment and then asks, "You're from District 4, that means you know how to swim and catch fish."

"Correct,"

"Listen, I have a proposition for you, if my chance the Games are set in a water setting, I need somebody who knows how to swim to teach me and help me learn how to catch fish. So what do you say?"

"I'll think about it."

Finnick and Mags return and, seeing me talking to somebody, Finnick comes up beside me and places his hand on my back again.

"We have to head back to the apartment now, Annie." Finnick informs; he doesn't smile and Michael. Michael turns and walks away.

Once back at he apartment it is ten o'clock and everybody is exhausted. I head to my room and take of my dress, hanging it in the closet. I quickly wash off all the makeup and place the coral crown in my bedside table. I crawl into bed and doze off.

Around one a.m. I wake back up and crawl out of bed. I step into some slippers and head down stairs. I quietly tiptoe towards the balcony and slide open the door. I step outside a cool breeze hits me. It feels great. I don't shut the door and I walk over to the railing and look down at the Capitol. Everything is lit up and I can hear people screaming and having parties all over the city.

"Can't sleep?"

I nearly scream, "Finnick! You can't keep doing that." Finnick laughs and walks up next to me, he leans against the railing and our shoulders sometimes touch. "And no, I can't sleep."

"Neither can I, to much stuff going on."

"Tell me about it,"

Finnick chuckles, "I wanted to talk to you, about that guy you were talking to earlier. Don't make any alliances with anyone, nobody can be trusted."

"I wasn't going to, not with him anyway. He would probably kill me in my sleep." I fidget with my bangs and Finnick goes on to say,

"Don't trust anybody, Annie. Not even Phineas."

I stop fidgeting and look at him, "He is only thirteen, Finnick."

"I was a year older when I was in the Games. I played dirty Annie, that's how you win."

"I know Finnick, I just—he is only thirteen and he is so quiet and innocent!"

"I'm just warning you," Finnick runs his hand through his hair and says, "I didn't think the other District 4 member would try to kill me, but she did. She almost got me to. If it hadn't been for an inch she would have stabbed me in the neck."

I'm watching him, horrified at the story he is telling.

"Did you know her?"

"I saw her at school a few times, just in the halls." Finnick sighs, "You can't trust anybody, Annie."

"I know," I give his forearm a squeeze and then head back inside and return to my bedroom. I lay down in bed but I don't go to sleep.

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! Please feel free to review and give me any tips and pointers. This is my first time, like ever, writing in the present tense so I'm still having trouble getting use to it. If there are any tense errors I'm sorry and I'll make sure I catch them next time. Also, I don't know how long it will take for me to upload chapters because I like writing 2 or 3 and then uploading one so I don't feel rushed and under pressure. Don't forget to comment :) **


	3. Training and Interviews

"Today you start training," Explains Finnick as I run on the treadmill like I have been doing for the past hour, "Which is why I'm making you exercise."

"Really? I thought you were trying to kill me," I smirk at him and turn the treadmill off. "You can make me do anything else, but I'm not running anymore."

"Annie, half of the time you're going to be running."

"I won't be running in the arena if I die running here now will I?" I grab the bottle of water out of his hand and take a sip.

"About training, don't show your strengths, that will make people want to kill you."

"So what am I suppose to do? Look like a piece of meat?"

"No, do something you're not partially good at, learn new things at the stations. Just don't look deadly. Also don't fight any of the other Tributes cause that will make them want to kill you."

"You're so reassuring," I frown at him.

"I'm not supposed to be reassuring, I'm suppose to help you live."

"Right, what about that thing with the Gamemakers tonight?" I'm sitting on a mat doing crunches now.

Finnick squats down next to me, "Show off. Show them how strong you are; show them any other skills you have. You want to do your best. Whatever you do don't look weak."

"Okay, got it." I stop exercising and ask Finnick what time it is, it's eight a.m.

"Training starts in an hour, rest up and then get dressed.

I take a quick shower, eat a sandwich, and then get dressed in my training outfit which says District 4 across the back of my shoulders.

Phineas and I head down to the training center and I am immediately amazed at what is in front of me. Tributes are throwing things around, shooting arrows, and boxing, throwing spears, climbing up rock walls, and tying fishing nets, plus more!

I decide that I should try spear throwing first, I've never thrown a spear in my life so I probably suck at it. Finnick practically told me to make sure I suck at what I'm doing.

I pick up a spear and notice the boy from District 3 staring at me again. He is over in the archery department. I grasp the spear firmly in my hand and throw it as hard as I can at my target. I expected myself to miss completely but instead I'm only about five inches off.

I think its beginners luck so I throw another; this time I hit the target directly. The boy from District 3 raises his eyebrows and continues shooting. I decide that I'm not doing myself any good here and move onto the rock climbing section. Nobody is at that one and I'm relieved.

I greet the trainer and he advises me to keep my body close to the rocks and not to look down. I wipe sweat off my hands and then grab two different rocks with my hands. Step onto another one and hoist myself up. I repeat this until I'm halfway up the wall. I grab onto a rock but it explodes and I'm thrown off the wall. I land on the ground with a thud and rub my back, which I happened to land on.

"Rocks aren't always safe, half to be careful on which ones you grab." The trainer tells me. I get back up and begin climbing again. This time pulling at the rocks to make sure they are stable.

Before the training session is over I have climbed the entire rock wall, after two failed attempts, learned that I can throw a spear pretty well, boxed, swam a few laps in a wave pool, and thrown knives at dummies.

Training is almost over when the District 3 boy approaches me.

"Avon," He sticks his hand out. After giving it some thought I shake it and introduce myself,

"Annie."

"You're pretty good with that spear."

I shrug, "Hidden talent, you weren't to bad with that bow either."

He shrugs, "Hidden talent…listen," He props his knee up on the edge of the chair I'm sitting in and leans against it, "You seem deadly, I know you're hiding something. But like me you aren't a Career. By yourself you wouldn't stand a chance against one of them. But with me watching your back and you watching mine, we'd be unstoppable. What do you say, allies?"

Finnick warned me not to trust anybody, "I'll think about it, got to be careful who you trust around here."

Avon grins, he's quite handsome, "Smart girl, I like that. Just get back to me before the games start."

"I'll make sure of it," I stand up and begin heading over to the exit.

"Good luck with the Gamemakers." He says behind me.

"You too."

I meet up with Phineas in the hallway as I'm walking to the elevator but he doesn't say anything to me. We load into the elevator and I press the button for the twentieth floor.

"How was your training?" I ask Phineas, "I didn't see you much."

Phineas shrugs his shoulders, "It was fine; the girl from District 12 is really nice."

"That's good, you aren't going to form an alliance with her are you?"

Phineas looks at me, "If I did, I don't see how it's any of your business." I'm slightly taken aback by his reply.

We arrive on the twentieth floor and the elevator doors open, Phineas steps out and I follow behind him. He opens the apartment door and then heads off to the gym. Deciding I should avoid Phineas, I go out onto the balcony for some fresh air.

Its mid day and I can see Capitol people walking around going about their daily business. Immune to the fact that twenty-three children will die in the next few weeks. They don't see the horror of it all, they don't see the bloodshed as a bad thing, they see it as entertainment.

Their children don't have to compete in the Games, most of their kids have never had to work for something a day in their life. Everything is just given to them.

I head back into the living room and Finnick is coming down the stairs in a robe and his hair is wet and going in every direction. He is extremely distracting.

"Hey, Annie. You almost ready for your show?" He arrives at the bottom of the steps and takes a seat on the sofa. I sit down next to him and realize I probably stink, so I scoot away. I can smell him from the other side of the sofa, he smells like a happy day during summer. When I'm lying on the beach and the sun is on my face, the waves crash and I can smell the salt. Then there is another smell that I can't describe, a warm smell that appeases everyone. That is what Finnick smells like.

"Not really," I reply to his question, "I have no idea what I'm going to do."

Finnick rubs his chin, for the first time I notice he has a shadow on his face.

"Well, I hear from the trainers you were good at throwing knives. Do that, knife throwers always get high scores."

"Finnick, what if I get a low score? Then what happens?"

Finnick places a hand on my knee, which I have brought up to my chest, "You won't get a low score Annie. Now go get ready cause its almost time."

Thirty minutes later, after nearly hyperventilating in my room, it's time. Finnick takes Phineas and I down to where we are suppose to wait and gives us both last minute words of advice. I bid Finnick goodbye and then take a seat on a bench with Phineas.

I spot the boy from District 3 leaning against a wall and staring at me. I know why this time. I stand up and casually walk over to him.

"I've been thinking about your offer, I think it would be smart for us to team up. But, we aren't going to be able to wait for each other when the gong sounds."

Avon nods.

"We'll have to meet up, but we can't wait we have to keep on the move. We can look for each other though. When we find each other we stick together. Got it?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sighs Avon, "Shake on it." We shake hands and then I go back over to sit with Phineas.

"So you can make alliances but I can't?"

"I thought you said what you did wasn't any of my business?" I retort.

"It isn't," Phineas mumbles.

The Tributes from District 1 and District 2 have both finished and I give Avon a smile as he passes me and is escorted by a Peacekeeper into the room. Avon comes out of the room and walks by me without giving me a second glance. The District 3 girl goes in next and five minutes later she comes out. Phineas is called next and then me.

I enter the room and the Gamemakers are sitting up in a balcony overlooking the entire room. They are drinking and eating and when they spot me the head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, calms everybody down. Everyone's eyes are trained on me.

"Annie Cresta, District 4."I say proudly.

I remember Finnick's advice about the knives and pick up about seven knives in my left hand. I then take one in my right and twirl it, while making my way over to the dummy area. Like in the training center the dummies head's are the only thing visible. They are on tracks that move side-to-side and there are four of these tracks. Each track contains three dummies. Once a dummy is hit it explodes.

I press the start button and ready my knife. The first dummy darts up and moves left, I throw my knife at it and hit it in the chest. The dummy explodes and then the next pops up and moves left then right, I throw a knife at it and hit it in the head. That one explodes as well. I decide to show off and, while the dummies are in the process of changing and or exploding, I drop to the ground, roll, prop myself up on one knee and throw a knife at the second to last dummy; hitting it in the crotch.

I can hear the male Gamemakers gasp and some chuckle. I smile and realize I'm doing extremely well. The last dummy pops up but then it does something weird and goes back down. Then it pops back up and goes from right to left. I focus on it and when it goes to go back down I throw the knife—it lands, if it was a person, where the right eye would be.

I place the remaining knife back on a hook and am greeted by applause from the Gamemakers. I thank them and then hurry out of the room, not wanting to be in front of them anymore.

Once I'm back in the comfort of the apartment I shower and change into pajamas. Then I'm being called to dinner.

"So how did your shows go?" Asks Zax, Phineas' stylist.

"Mine went really well," Begins Phineas, "I think I'll get a decent score."

"How about you Annie?" Pixie asks me; the stylists, who are now considered teammates, have begun joining us for dinner. I can't say I mind them. Pixie is kind and funny; yes she is a bit quirky but I like that about her.

"I—I think I did well, they seemed impressed."

"What did you do?" Finnick asks me, he is sitting next to me and he still smells like a happy summer's day. It's so distracting.

"I, um, threw knives at the dummies." I gulp down some water.

"Really? Did you hit them?" Finnick continues.

I nod, "All of them."

Mags coughs and Finnick and I's heads both snap in her direction, "Phineas what did you do?" She asks him kindly.

"I threw a heavy boulder, climbed the rock wall, and then used the sword."

"Impressive," I say and Phineas glances over at me. I think Finnick senses the tension between us and clears his throat.

"We should finish up," Mags advises, "The scores will be on soon."

We finish eating and the Avox take away our plates. We all gather around on the circular sofa, Finnick turns the television on and Caesar Flickerman's face fills the screen and his blue hair is overwhelming.

"Hello, people of the Capitol!" He says brightly, "Tonight is a very exciting night! Our Tributes scores are finally being given to the public. Alright we'll get to it because I know all of you are just dying to hear them." He clears his throat, "District 1—"

The District 1 boy, whose name is Sean receives a nine; the girl, Alice, a ten. In District 2 the boy, Alec, a seven and the girl, Rose, eleven. Avon gets a ten and the girl, named Selena, a nine. District 4,

"Here it is!" Zax nearly jumps out of his seat. Finnick and I giggle. Phineas name is first, he receives a nine and everybody gasps.

"Great job Phineas!" Mags pats him on the back and Finnick gives him a thumb up. I'm next.

I'm beginning to breath heavily and Finnick takes my hand. Caesar stares at the paper he is reading the scores off of and his eyes go wide,

"Annie Cresta…has received a twelve." Caesar smiles and claps his hands. Not many people get a twelve.

I'm in shock; I was expecting a fair score, a nine maybe, but not a twelve! Twelve is the highest you can get. Everyone pats my back and congratulates me. Finnick squeezes my hand and I thank him. I don't even listen to the rest of the Tributes scores. I'm overjoyed and at the same time I'm terrified. A twelve might get you sponsors but it also gets you enemies. Enemies who want to slaughter you.

Everybody listens to the rest of the scores while I'm zoned out in my own little world. I'm in a trance and everybody around me is silent. But I know they really aren't. I can see their mouths moving, forming words. Hands' coming together to clap and on one occasion a wine glass falls onto the floor and shatters. That is when everything is consumed by darkness and I fall to the ground.

I awake with a cold washcloth on my head and I'm lying in my bed. I blink my eyes and cough. There is a squeak of a chair and then Finnick is looming over me.

"What happened?" I moan, my head is throbbing in pain and everything is so bright.

"You passed out," He notices me squinting my eyes and goes over and turns the light off, when he returns I thank him, "How are you feeling?"

"Like somebody is hitting my head with a hammer." I moan and roll over so my face is shoved into my pillow.

"I'll go get you some medicine, I'll be right back."

A few minutes later Finnick returns with a glass of water and two pills. I pop the pills into my mouth and down the water. Then quickly lie back down and shove my face into my pillow. Finnick sighs and sets the water on the side table.

"The pills start working in less than ten minutes, so you should start feeling better pretty soon."

"Shhh…" I mumble into my pillow, "Talking hurts."

"Sorry," Finnick whispers. Finnick places a hand on my shoulder and rubs it. It feels good.

Finnick was correct, after about ten minutes my headache subsided and I began feeling better. Finnick leaves the room and lets me go to sleep, reminding me that tomorrow is a big day. It is the last day before I go into the arena.

I'm sprinting through a dark jungle, the sound of monkeys and birds squawking echo in my ears. I can hear the vines swing in the air as the monkeys follow me, awaiting my death. I can hear it behind me as it barrels through the jungle, hunting down its prey. Its hungry and angry and it wants me.

I trip over a vine and I tumble to the ground. I try to get up but I can't; I'm stuck, hopelessly, to the ground while snakes and spiders crawl all over me. I shriek and try to get up again. I'm back on my feet and running, still screaming for help. I hear the mutated animal getting closer to me. I hear its breathing and growls, I feel the ground rumble as it runs through the jungle.

I'm on the beach now; I run towards the water but am thrown back by a force field. Now I'm paralyzed and the beast hovers over me. Ragged flesh stuck in its teeth. I scream again but nothing comes out. I scream and try to run away but I'm stuck.

The beast lets out a roar and bites down on my leg and begins dragging me back into the jungle. I scream and thrash around and then suddenly somebody is calling my name.

"Annie! Annie it's okay!"

The monster bites down harder and I scream and cry out in pain. The monster is shaking me and I begin to cry.

"Annie!" There it is again. I blink once and then twice.

I'm back in my room and Finnick is sitting next to me in bed, with his hands on my arms. He had been shaking me. Not the monster in my nightmare; I whimper.

"Are you okay?" Finnick asks me, still holding my arms. I shake my head no and burst out into tears. Finnick pulls me into his arms and holds me tightly, I sob into the crook of his neck.

"Shh, Annie you're okay." Finnick places a hand on the back of my head and laces his fingers in my hair. "Nobody's gonna hurt you, I got you." Finnick says reassuringly.

"Finnick," I choke out through tears, "I'm gonna die." His hold tightens on me and I sniffle.

"No you're not, Annie. You've been training everyday, you've got a good of a chance as anybody."

I laugh coldly as tears pore down my cheeks.

"Annie, you're not going to die. I've already got sponsors lined up for you. People love you Annie, they want you to win."

I cry into his shoulder and he just holds me, telling me everything is going to be all right. That as long as he is alive nobody is going to hurt me. After I calm down Finnick brushes the remaining tears off my cheeks and holds my face in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Finnick asks as he gets off the bed to go back to his room. My hand automatically darts out and grabs his.

"Could you stay?" I ask sheepishly, Finnick nods and crawls into the bed with me. He opens his arms and I immediately crawl into them. I rest my head on his shoulder and his arm curls around me.

"Finnick?" I ask him a few moments later.

"Yeah?"

"Who do you want to win?"

He turns his head to look at me, "What do you mean?"

"You keep telling me I'm going to win, but what about Phineas? Don't you worry about him?"

"I worry about both of you, Annie." Finnick sighs and thumbs my chin, "I just—I don't know how to say it without wishing someone's death."

"I know what you mean," I say and Finnick's arm tightens around me.

"I want you to live, Annie. Mentors want their mentee to live."

I nod, "Right."

"But it's not just because I'm your mentor that I want you to live," He continues, "I like you Annie, you're a good person. A great," He stops for a moment, "A great friend."

"So are you Finnick."

Finnick dozes off but I remain awake, still to frightened to close my eyes.

In the morning I awake to an empty bed, I've only gotten a few hours of sleep but I'm surprisingly wired. I dress and head out to the dining room for breakfast. Finnick, Mags, and Phineas are already eating, but from what I see it's lunch.

"Hey Annie." Finnick pats the seat next to him for me to sit down. I walk over and take a seat. I grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of milk and begin eating.

"You looked so sleepy I didn't want to wake you. Figured you should sleep in on your last day."

Right. Last day. "What time is it?"

"Eleven," Says Mags as she drinks some coffee. I take a bite of my sandwich and notice Finnick staring at me over his beer. I had never noticed Finnick drinking alcohol before.

"What?"

"Nothing."

I finish my sandwich and chug the rest of my milk, then I head back to my bedroom. I change into the clothes I'm supposed to wear when I'm exercising and then go to the gym.

I run out my fears on the treadmill, kill my doubts on the pull up bar, and erase my pain while lifting weights. I'm sweating like a pig and I have forgotten how long I've been exercising. I'm in the middle of doing pushup when Finnick comes back and squats down by my side.

"You've been back here for over three hours."

"I'm going in tomorrow, I'm just doing last minute things."

"Annie, you need to rest."

"I'm fine." I grunt as my arms begin to burn.

"Annie, seriously."

I collapse onto the ground, "Finnick, you said yourself you want me to live. This will help ensure I do win."

"You need to rest, also your stylists want to start prepping you for tonight in about an hour."

"The interview isn't until seven! And it's what two right now?"

Finnick raises an eyebrow and I notice the flecks of gold in his eyes sea green eyes, "It's four."

"Really?" I asked, shocked. I wipe the sweat of my forehead and Finnick tells me to get up. I do as I'm told and then he tells me to go back into the dressing room.

Instead of going to the metal room in the back of the apartment I am driven to Caesar Flickerman's studio. It is huge from the outside and the inside isn't much different. Rich red curtains hang over the windows in the hallway leading to the dressing rooms. A golden carpet rests beneath my feet and under that a marble floor. I am led to the dressing rooms and a Peacekeeper lets me into a room with my name on the door.

I enter the room cautiously and my prep team immediately surrounds me.

The one with bleached, curly hair, who I have come to know as Eva, puts her finger over her noes and coughs, "You smell retched!"

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Yourself?" Amandla, the one with the pink Afro, says coldly.

"I was exercising," I say simply.

"You're just trying to make things difficult aren't you?" Channel, the one with purple and yellow striped hair tells me, "You hate us don't you?" He puts his lip into a pout and I let out a sigh.

"I can go take a shower—" I begin, but Amandla cuts me off.

"Oh, no, no, no!" She shrieks, "We must get you ready, we'll wash you here! Plus you'll get so much cleaner!"

Channel, Eva, and Amandla undress me and stick me into the bathtub, scrubbing me clean.

After they finish, they rub lotion all over me and spritz me down with what they tell me will make me smell like vanilla for the next twenty-four hours. When I ask them what vanilla has to do with my District, they tell me that everything in my District smells bad and that I should just be quiet and listen to them. I agree because they were beginning to look threatening.

"How long did it take to scrub me clean?" I ask them. They begin to chuckle and Eva sighs exasperatedly,

"About an hour, at least. You have so much dry skin on you we had to scrub it all off. You will not go on national television with dry skin. Especially with Caesar Flickerman!"

"Okay, calm down, calm down." I put my hands up in defense. Eva backs off and they circle around my naked body, making sure everything is perfect.

"I think she is ready for Pixie," Channel says as he props his finger on his chin.

The prep team leaves the room and Pixie comes in shortly after. Her hair is up in a bun on the top of her head and she is wearing overly long false eyelashes. Her nails are painted gold and she is wearing a form fitting black pantsuit with red heals.

"Hello, Annie. How did the prep team treat you today?" She asks me as she inspects me.

"They were…nice." I lie; they were anything but nice, going on and on about how sweaty I was.

She smiles without showing her teeth and hands me a robe. I quickly put it on and she tells me about my dress.

"It is going to be a little more risky than your last dress." She smirks, obviously loving the idea, "It is going to have a sharp v in the front and the back, and I want you to be desirable. People love that. It will be midnight blue and loose. The v neck is enough sexy." She bites her lip, "Oh, you're going to look delicious. You will also have a thin braided gold belt around your waist that is tight and gives you a waist. Your hair will be straightened and shiny. I want to keep things simple so it doesn't distract from your dress and your chest," She giggles at that. "Your shoe are going to be clear stilettoes, you'll probably appear barefoot to most people." She looks at the clock on the wall, "Lets get started!"

She takes my robe away and helps me step into my dress; the V-neck is so low that it shows the sides of my breasts and I feel almost naked. The back of the dress is low as well and stops right above my bottom. She puts the tiny golden belt around my waist and pulls it tight. My curvy waist, who disappeared the somewhat loose fitting dress, is back and I see the curve of my hips meet the curve of my waist. She straightens my hair and runs her fingers through it, feeling the softness of it; then she rubs some foam in it which is suppose to make it shiny.

She then moves to my face and paints foundation all over me, she tells me it isn't on heavy and that it is just to make me look perfect. Then she curls my lashes and creates a smoky eye using blues, and then she applies false lashes and orders me to blink a few times. When she is positive they won't fall off she goes back to my face, applying bronzer to my cheekbones. Then she applies a nude colored lipstick and covers it with a shiny gloss.

After she helps me into my five-inch stilettoes she allows me to look into a mirror. I step off the pedestal I'm on and stumble over to the mirror. Unlike the other night, this girl in the mirror is not me. With prominent cheekbones, fierce eyes, and a voluptuous chest. I'm definitely desirable, but it isn't me. I have to admit that I look pretty sexy. The dress covers my feet and the thick straps cover both shoulders, I turn around and my back is completely open. I look like no one I have ever seen in my life.

"You look so sexy," She squeals, "People are going to love you."

"Yeah, I suppose they will."

"It's almost time for your interview, how do you feel?" She asks me as she checks me over, not wanting a single hair out of place.

"Nervous, just really nervous. Where's Finnick?" I blurt out, "I need him here with me."

Pixie smirks and licks her lips, "Is there anything going on between you and Finnick?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know. Hanky panky?"

"Hanky panky?" I laugh, "Of course not! He's Finnick! Plus you see how he looks, he would never go for a girl like me."

"I don't know, have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Well, this isn't me. This is—I don't know who this is. But I don't look like this."

"I bet you, you don't know all that much about Finnick. I think he wants a girl like you."

I sigh, "So where is Finnick?" I repeat.

"Oh he's probably outside waiting with Mags." She waves off my question and begins rambling about how she is sure something is going on between Finnick and I. I ignore her and hurry out of the room. I look frantically around for Finnick but don't see him.

I pick up my dress and walk around. I spot the other Tributes and some of them are eyeing me. I can't possibly look that good! I don't even know what Pixie was thinking when she went for the whole desirable thing. I'm about as desirable as a three legged cat with one eye! I turn around to head back to my room and bump directly into Finnick's chest.

"Sorry!" I say quickly, "I was looking for you and I couldn't find you—these stupid heels are so uncomfortable!" I shout randomly. The shoes are pinching my toes together and I feel like I'm going to fall over any minute.

"Annie? Wow, you look—completely different." Finnick breathes in awe. He is wearing a black suit with a black tie and white dress shirt. He looks handsome if I don't say so myself.

"Yeah, Pixie is going for the whole desirable look." I say desirable look with finger quotations and Finnick chuckles.

"I'm pretty sure it's going to work, but why does your dress have to be so low cut?"

I shrug,

"Don't do that during the interview." He warns.

"Do what? Shrug?" I shrug my shoulders again.

"Yes! Don't do that your dress is too low cut to do that and it, well, yeah know." He scratches the back of his head.

"Oh! Oh sorry." I chuckle, realizing what he is talking about. I sway back and forth and stare at my dress, "It's pretty amazing though, isn't it? The dress, that is."

Finnick nods, "Come on, we have to go to the waiting room."

Finnick guides me through the hallway of dressing rooms and through a tight metal hallway, then we are taken into a room with soft sofas and chairs, there is a table with food and drinks on it, although none of the Tributes are eating anything.

Finnick takes me over to the chairs with District 4 printed on the back and I sit down next to Phineas. Mags stands next to him.

"You look gorgeous, Annie." Mags says and I thank her.

The other Tributes are talking to one another or snickering at others. I spot Avon talk with the District 5 girl and wonder what they are discussing.

"Okay, we have to go get seats in the audience," Says Finnick, "They fill up quickly."

"We'll see you after the show," Says Mags, they leave and we are left alone in a room filled with Tributes.

The District 1 Tribute watches Finnick and Mags leave and then approaches me, completely blowing off the other District 1 Tribute. His dark hair is styled so that it looks wavy and soft. He is wearing a dark suit and looks very attractive.

"You look lovely," He says, taking my hand and slowly pulling me out of my seat. He spins me around and inspects me. "I'm Sean." He kisses the back of my hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Annie."

"The pleasure is all mine," He purrs and drops my hand

I think Phineas thought the situation was awkward because he got up and walked over to talk with the Tribute he was with during training. Sean walks behind me and places a finger on my back. Its cold against my warm skin and it sends shivers down my spine. His finger lingers on my spine,

"This V-neck—you'll probably get all the attention tonight. You sure have caught mine."

I chuckle, trying to match his seductive tone, "Well that's what I was going for."

Sean smiles and removes his finger from my back and comes back around to face me.

"So," He purrs again, "How did you score that twelve?" His mouth is right next to my ear and I feel his hot breath on my neck.

"Well, I have my ways."

Sean leans back and looks me in the eye, "Until you tell me what you did, you're an enemy in the arena. After all, your body is so distracting, it causes people to loose focus on your true skills. Don't I recall you being good with knives?" He smirks.

"You have no idea," I say through clenched teeth.

He leans in again and his breath is hot on my neck, "You're first."

With that he leans back on the balls of his feet, smiles, and then walks away. I'm flabbergasted, I have been avoiding people and I've already been marked first on someone's kill list. Heaven help me.

Sean goes out to his interview and pulls the same seductive tone he did with me, minus the death threat. The girl goes out next, Alice, and she is in a provocative see threw black dress. The crowd goes wild.

After the District 2 Tributes go, Avon is next. He is in a sports jacket with no shirt underneath, showing off his rippling chest. The girls in the crowd go crazy; he waves at the crowd and does a great job with his interview. He is funny, sexy, and utterly amazing. Apparently he is quite violent…or so he says.

After the District 3 girl goes, I'm next. I am ushered next to the entrance by a worker while Caesar prepares my entrance.

"Next is District 4. Now, you may remember her as the girl with the moving dress! Here is Annie Cresta!" Caesar opens hi arms in my direction. When I step out from the door the audience gasps, then they begin to clap more, and there are whistles, and shouts. It's amazing.

I wave back at the crowd and when I arrive by Caesar's side he shakes my hand and kisses both of my cheeks.

"May I just say, that you look amazing, that dress is just—wow!" He claps again and urges the audience to as well. But they don't need the pushing.

"Well thank you," I say loudly, over the claps. Caesar sh's the crowd and slowly the noise dies down.

"Now," He crosses his legs, "Do tell, what did your family think when you were reaped for the Games?"

I swallow, "Well, they were very sad and scared of course. My little brother, told me to win."

"And do you plan on winning, Annie?"

I gulp, "I do."

The audience roars with cheers.

"They seem to like you!" Caesar chuckles.

"I'm pretty sure most of them just like the dress," I reply, I didn't mean for it to be funny but Caesar bursts out laughing and so does the audience. Caesar sh's them again,

"Now, isn't it true that your mentor is Finnick Odair?" He raises his eyebrows and the ladies in the crowd all go 'oooo.'

"Yes, that is true."

"What is he like? All of the ladies in Panem are dying to know."

"He's very, umm," I don't know what to say, "Kind?"

"Just kind?" Caesar asks.

"No," I regain my confidence, "He's amazing, he's encouraging, helpful, kind, he really believes in you."

"Do you two ever, do anything not involving the Games?"

What the hell is he getting at? I raise an eyebrow, "No, I mean we talk about other things, but we don't go out to eat together. If that's what you mean."

Caesar and everyone in the audience laugh, "Oh darling that is not what I meant. I'm just shocked you haven't succumbed to his charms. Most ladies have."

The camera zooms in on Finnick in the audience and I can see him on the giant screen. He's smiling but I can sense that something is wrong with him.

"I would love to stay and talk with you all night, but sadly we're on a time limit." Caesar takes my hand and we stand up, "Ladies and gentlemen, Annie Cresta!" The crowd roars.

I'm taken off stage and Phineas passes me to go on. I hear the crowd clap as he comes on. What did Caesar mean, do we do anything not involving the games? And then he laughs at me like I'm a daft bimbo! I have to ask Finnick what he meant. The only thing I understood was succumbing to Finnick's charms. He is very charming.

I am taken back to the dressing hall and it is completely empty.

"Wait here for your mentor." The worker tells me. I stand-alone in the cold room, all the lights are off and the doors closed.

I hear footsteps and turn around to see its Finnick. He looks upset and he has taken his coat off and loosened his tie.

"We need to talk."

**A/N: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! Please R&R! Next chapter will be up this coming weekend. So in about three days! :) **


	4. Let the Games Begin

"We need to talk," Finnick says, looking worried. "Come with me." He motions for me to come into my dressing room with him and I do. Whens I arrive inside I flip on the light switch and look at Finnick for an explanation.

"Well? What do you need to tell me?"

Finnick sits down in a chair and puts his head in his hands, "There is something I've been meaning to tell you, I didn't want to but I'm afraid I must."

"Well spit it out."

Finnick sighs, "Annie, when Caesar asked you if there was anything going on between you and I he meant like a relationship, or more to the point, sex."

"Why would he even think that? I would never—you would never—" I begin but he cuts me off.

"Annie, listen. Around the Capitol people know me as that kind of guy."

"Why? You aren't that kind of guy are you?" I am beginning to get a bit worried.

"Annie," He stands up and comes closer to me, he takes my hands in his and looks at me, "I don't want you to be alarmed by this, don't freak out, and please don't let it change your feelings about me."

"Finnick, what are you trying to tell me?" I blurt out, frustrated.

"Annie, President Snow uses me as a prostitute to gain money for the Capitol." He says it so quickly I can barely understand him.

"He—he what?"

Finnick releases my hands and sits back down, "That's why Caesar asked you that, it had nothing to do with you at all. Well it did, but people don't think of you like that, they think of me like that. Although I'm worried about you and that dress, you caught some male attention tonight with it. I'm sorry if you think I'm disgusting or a horrible person, I just had to tell you my way incase someone else told you."

I take a deep breath and sit down next to him, "Why do you do it? Do you get paid or something?"

Finnick shakes his head, "No, only the Capitol gets paid, but Snow threatened to kill my family if I didn't."

My eyes well up, I take his hands in mine, "Oh, Finnick, I'm so sorry. It must be awful."

Finnick looks at me, "You don't think I'm disgusting?"

"No, you're being forced to do it." I place my hand on his cheek, "Finnick this doesn't change my feelings towards you, I still want to be your friend."

Finnick embraces me in his arms, "Thank god."

We stay locked together for a while and then Finnick says something that will change everything.

"There's something else too." He pulls out of the hug and I lean back in my chair, rearranging my dress to make sure nothing is popping out.

"What?"

"Well, Mags thinks that if you and I act like we're dating, you'll get more sponsors."

I can't help but laugh, "That will never work!"

Finnick shakes his head, "Annie, listen to me, we have to make it public tonight. You go into the arena tomorrow morning and you will want sympathy votes. Acting like you're in a romantic relationship will get you that. They'll want you to survive."

The full weight of his words hit me and I nod, "Okay, okay I'll do it. What do we do though? To make it public?"

"After Phineas' interview is over, which it probably is already, we have to walk back to the car, paparazzi will be everywhere. All they need is one good kiss, Annie, and we've got them."

"All right. Lets go."

Finnick takes my hand and holds it tightly, "for the full effect," He says.

We stand up and exit the room, we meet up with Mags and Phineas outside and Mags looks at Finnick, he nods. We head down the golden carpet and a doorman opens the door for us. We are immediately swarmed by paparazzi, flashing pictures, calling out our names.

Finnick and I walk ahead of Mags and Phineas. I wave at the crowd, still attached to Finnick's hand. When the paparazzi notice our hands they go crazy.

"Is it true you're dating?" One shouts.

"Finnick, what's it like knowing your lover might die?" Another calls.

"Annie, how come you didn't tell the truth in the interview?" A woman screams.

I blow kisses at the crowd and Finnick pulls me closer to him, his arm around my waist. I place my hand on his chest and smile up at him. I wasn't acting, which is the strange thing. The paparazzi shout for us to kiss and Finnick's arm tightens around my waist, his other hand is now on the back of my head. He leans in and kisses me passionately, he lifts me off the ground and I feel my foot pop.

The crowd goes wild and even with my eyes closed I see the flashes of cameras. I place my hand on his cheek and the kiss deepens. Eventually we pull away,

"By the way," Finnick calls into the audience, "To whoever said my 'lover' might die, Annie is sure as hell not gonna die." He takes my hand and kisses the back of it.

We then finish our walk to the car and Mags and Phineas file into the car behind us.

"Since when are you two together?" Asks Phineas.

The driver of the car ear's tense to listen,

I chuckle, "Oh Phineas, we've been sneaking into each other's rooms the whole time."

Phineas raises an eyebrow and leans into the seat. I glance at Finnick as the car jerks and begins to move.

Once we're home, I hurry to my room and take off the dress and step into the shower, realizing this is my last night here I take extra long. After I finish I put on my robe and lay down on my bed.

This is the last night I'll ever sleep in this bed, seeing as I'm going to die in the next couple of weeks. I curl up on the bed and enjoy the feel of it. There's a light knock on the door and I tell whomever it is to come in. Finnick opens the door and closes it behind him.

"It worked, we're all over the papers and the news—people love you!"

I sigh, "That's great Finn."

Finnick come over to the bed and sits down on the edge of it. He places a warm hand on my foot and massages it.

"You're pretty daring, touching a girls feet."

Finnick chuckles, "They don't smell, don't worry."

I laugh and sit up so I'm next to Finnick, "I can't believe this is my last night." I breathe.

Finnick lets go of my foot and looks at me seriously, "Annie, pay attention to me. I came in here to give you last minute pointers. When you first arrive in the arena don't go to the cornucopia, it's a blood bath. Just get as far away from it as possible; you want to keep a distance between yourself and others. Trust no one. Most importantly stay hydrated. You can survive for a while without food but you need water to stay alive. Got it?"

I nod, "Finnick if I don't live—"

"Don't say that." Finnick interrupts harshly, "Please don't say that."

I place a hand on his cheek, "If I don't make it please don't tell my family I became so doubtful. I want my little brother to believe I was strong."

Finnick's brow hardens, "Annie, you are strong. God dammit, Annie, you will live. You're smart, strong, logical, you will survive." Finnick takes my hand off his face, "In the morning I'm not going to get to take you to the arena. Pixie is going with you."

"What, no! You—you have to take me. I need you!"

"I'm sorry, it's the rules." Finnick sighs, "I'll take you out to the car and give you a kiss for the cameras but after that I won't be there."

I shake my head and place it in my hands, "Finnick, I'm so scared," I whisper.

Finnick takes me in his arms and holds me, stroking my hair, and saying, "I'll be with you the whole time, in the arena. Watching you every moment. I'll always be with you."

My eyes are watery as I look up at him, "That sound incredibly creepy." I try to giggle but I just smile and cry more.

Finnick laughs and kisses the top of my head, "But it's true. Get some sleep, Annie, it's late."

Finnick gets up to leave but I grab his hand, "Could you stay? It's the last night."

Finnick nods and crawls into bed with me, we get under the covers and he takes me in his arms. I rest a hand on his chest and I can feel his heart beating. He takes my hand and caresses it with his thumb. I realize, that when I'm in his arms I feel like I'm at home. I realize, that when I was at home and I felt as if something was missing, it was him that was missing. Finnick Odair is the person who was missing from my life.

I don't believe in fate, but if I did I would say that it was fate for Finnick Odair and I to meet.

"Finnick?" I ask wearily.

"Yeah?" He lifts his head up to look at me and I loose my breath. His dazzling sea green eyes, his bronzed skin, those arms, its all to much! I tell myself not to do it; it would ruin everything! But everything is already ruined because I feel what I want to do in my heart already. I wanted to do it so badly! Just lean forward and plant one right on his lips.

"Annie?"

"Yeah?"

"You said my name."

"Oh," I giggle awkwardly, "Right, sorry. I just wanted to say goodnight, I'll see you in the morning."

Finnick's face falls a little, "Night Annie."

He lays his head back down on the pillow and I snuggle closer to him, he buries his face in my hair and I let my finger trail down his stomach. Then I fall asleep in his arms for the second time.

In the morning I awake and find myself still in Finnick's warm embrace, his arms wrapped protectively around my body. I yawn and blink my eyes a few times. Today's the day I go into the arena. I ignore the fact and snuggle into Finnick; I then begin tracing circles on his chest.

"You can sleep a bit longer if you want," Finnick states, noticing I'm awake.

I shake my head, "I'm fine, I want to spend as much time with you as possible."

Finnick stops my hand from tracing circles on his chest and kisses it, then holds it in his larger one.

"We should get up then," He says.

"I don't wanna," I moan.

"We have to, you leave to go meet with Pixie in two hours, I suggest you eat a huge breakfast and take a long shower."

I sigh and nod, I get out of bed and realize I'm still in my robe. I wave goodbye to Finnick and then go into the bathroom. I take a forty-five minute shower and make sure to use lots of soap, minimal shampoo, and no conditioner. After I'm done I go out to eat breakfast, not bothering to change out of my robe.

Phineas and I both eat large meals of eggs, bagels, milk, vegetables, chicken, and anything else we can fit in our stomachs. When I finish eating I notice Phineas staring at Finnick and I. He is eyeing us suspiciously and I know Finnick sees him too. Mags didn't tell Phineas about the plan, figured he would tell somebody.

I stand up from the table and kiss the top of Finnick's head to lead Phineas on. I am about to exit the dining room when Phineas speaks,

"I don't think your relationship is real."

I wheel around, Finnick and Mags are both staring at him, "And why do you think that?" Mags asks him kindly.

"Because, I've seen how you act with boys around District 4, you let everyone know you're dating them. You show them off, if it were true you would have spilled the beans a long time ago."

I walk back up to the dining table, "How dare you."

Phineas snorts, "You're just lucky, I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Phineas!" Mags says, stunned at her mentee's behavior.

"Phineas, Annie and I are together." Finnick states.

"I'll believe it when I see her act herself around you."

"You barely even know me!" My voice rises, "You're several years younger than I am and we've never talked before."

"Mark? You know Mark right, the one with the dark hair and bronzed skin? The one you were with 24/7?"

"How do you know Mark?" I ask him, Mark was a summer fling I had a few years back, he was very nice and we spent practically every minute together.

"He's my brother, I saw the way you two acted together whenever you came over. You were completely different."

I open my mouth to speak but Finnick stands up, "Enough, this is crazy. It doesn't matter what you or anyone else thinks, Annie and I are together."

Finnick takes my hand and leads me down the hall to the bedrooms. He stops in front of mine. I lean against the door and sigh while Finnick stands in front of me. He looks pissed.

"I'm sorry if I'm not making it believable." I begin to say.

"No, no it's not you. It's everyone else." Finnick leans in and kisses my forehead, "Go get dressed, you have to leave soon."

I nod and go into my room; I put on my dress I wore on Reaping Day and the same pair of shoes. I braid my hair down my back in a French braid, after I'm done getting dressed I go into the bathroom, brush my teeth, wash my face, and then leave the room.

I go down the hallway towards Finnick's room and nock on the door,

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah,"

I enter the room and Finnick staring out the window at the Capitol below, "You okay?"

"No, but I'll deal with it. You ready?" He turns around and looks at me, "You look like you."

"Yeah, figured I should. I know I'm not as stunning as I was the other night—"

"I like you better this way," He interrupts, "Lets go."

We walk hand in hand, out of his room, down the hall, past Phineas and Mags, then out of the building, and the paparazzi surround us again. I look up at Finnick and he looks down at me, it is like I'm in a daze, only Finnick and I exist. The paparazzi are yelling questions, commands, and god knows what else.

I ignore them and place my hand on Finnick's cheek, feeling his warm skin beneath mine. I don't know what thought was in my head when I did it, all I know is that I pulled his head down to my level and kissed him. A real kiss, a passionate, emotional kiss that would keep me alive during the games. I kissed him deeply as his arms went around my waist and lifted me up. My foot popped again and my arms went around his neck. The crowd goes wild as we kiss and lights from the cameras flash everywhere.

When neither of us are able to breath we pull away and Finnick smiles at me. We then load into the car, without Phineas and Mags. We are driven to the station where the crafts leave for the arena. The Peacekeepers let Finnick and I have a moment before I am forced to leave.

"You did great back there, it felt real." He smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes. At that moment my heart cracks a little bit.

"I've always been good at faking things," I chuckle back, "I have to go." I say.

Finnick nods and takes me into a hug, "We have to kiss again so the other Tributes see." He whispers into my ear.

We break apart from the hug and he tilts my chin up, giving me the sweetest kiss I have ever received in my life. When he pulls away there are tears in his eyes,

"I'll see you soon Annie."

"You too Finn." A Peacekeeper orders me onto the hovercraft and I do as I'm told. I buckle in next to Avon and he nods at me.

When the hovercraft leaves the ground I am pushed against my seat by an invisible force and unable to move. We are on the craft for about six minutes and then we land at the prep center.

Pixie greets me and quickly takes me to get dressed in my outfit. The clothes I am given consist of a V-neck black shirt and a pair of dark brown cargo pants that fit into the pair of boots I am given. Lastly, I am given a mud green jacket that, if turned inside out, double as a rain jacket. That is all I am given to take in with me. Pixie then braids my hair in a French braid down my back like I had it earlier.

"Good luck," Pixie says sadly, "You have a great chance at winning, remember that. Plus you have something to look forward to when you come home!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Finnick of course!" She says. She gives me a hug and wishes me luck again. Then I step into the tube that raises me into the arena.

"Don't step off the stand until the gong sounds!" She warns me.

"Okay, hey Pixie?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Tell Finnick that last kiss was real, tell it to him in privacy though, would you?"

Pixie smiles, "I will."

The tube I'm in seals shut and I begin to go upwards, I'm already panicking which is not good. As I make it up further the arena comes into view. The vast landscape where 23 children are sent to die. I look around at my surroundings and notice the cornucopia is stocked with all sorts of goodies; random backpacks litter the area around it. I remind myself not to go for the cornucopia.

The landscape is other worldly; I'm surrounded by humongous trees, a river runs behind me, if I listen closely I can here the sound of water running, there are beautiful flowers everywhere. I hear birds singing and then I hear something splash in the water behind me. It looks like a rainforest. I've seen pictures of the rainforest in my history book.

I look around at the other Tributes the Careers from District 1 and 2 are both eyeing the Cornucopia. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for what I'm about to witness.

The gong rings out and I step off my platform, the other Tributes do the same, then all hell breaks loose.

**A/N: Mwahaha! Left you all hanging! Stay tuned! Please R&R! PS: The next chapter will be up soon, I'm sick so I have nothing else to do besides write and mope about. **


	5. The End Begins

I watch in horror as Tributes are slain left and right, all of them go for the cornucopia. The District 1 and 2 people reach it first and kill anyone else who comes near. Tributes attack each other to get the backpacks that are littered around the cornucopia. I shake myself out of my daze and sprint into the rainforest, avoiding contact with all Tributes. As I run I hear cannons going off, I can't tell how many but I hear a lot.

There are no backpacks in my path and even if there were I wouldn't risk taking one. I'm in the rainforest now, jumping over fallen trees, ducking under vines. I don't dare slow down and take a breath; I can't risk it. When I reach a partial clearing I'm tackled to the ground.

The person who tackled me turns out to be the girl from District 5, I scramble up but she takes me down again. I notice she has a backpack. She pins me to the ground and places her hands on my neck, strangling me. I choke and gasp for air. I grope around the ground for something heavy. My hand finally comes in contact with what is either a rock or a hard piece of tree. It's hard to grab something when you're gasping for air. I kick my legs and finally get a good grip on whatever the blunt object is. I pick it up and whack it against the side of her head; she falls off of me and feels he side of her head. When she pulls her hand off of it it's covered in blood; this infuriates her. She comes at me again but I'm ready; although I'm still gasping for air, I hit her in the head again and again until I'm positive she won't attack me again. A cannon sounds. I quickly take her backpack and continue running farther away.

When I come to an area with dense trees and vines I decide to stop. I push past the vines until I'm completely covered by them. I open the backpack and pull out what I find.

Six packets of dried fruit, six stick of jerky, a vile of cleaner for water, a knife, and a canteen that's empty, rope, gloves, and some strange salve that is chunky. I put the stuff back in the backpack and decide to stay here for the night. I step outside my fort and look at it, it's concealed well by vines and dense trees; I can burrow down into the bushes and be invisible to anyone who passes.

I make sure to remember where it is and then venture off to find a water source and possibly some food. It's still light out and I decide this is the best time to hunt. After what feels like two hours of walking I come across a river and I take my canteen out and fill it. I put one drop of the cleanser in it and then put it all back in my backpack. I then take out my knife and hunt for food.

I hear possible food sources but I can't see them: I hear birds squawking, monkeys howling, and occasionally I hear fish splash in the water. I ready my knife as I quietly move through the shadows. I spot a monkey perched on a tree bathing itself. It's so cute but I have to do it. I aim my knife and throw it at the monkey. I hit it in the face and it falls from the tree.

I run over and collect my food. I skin the monkey and then start a small fire to roast it. After its done cooking I stomp on the fire and head back to my fort area.

When I arrive back, after about twenty minutes of walking, it is nearly dark. I climb into the bushes and eat my monkey quietly. It's not half bad, actually. I drink some water afterwards and then ready my knife in my hand for the night.

Up above me there is a large gap where I can see the sky. The Capitol music comes on and I watch the sky as they say the names of the Tributes who died.

The girl from 5 who I killed, the girl from 3, the boy from 12, and lastly the boy from 6. I'm relieved neither Avon or Phineas has died yet; I wonder where they are now? Did Phineas form an alliance with the girl from 12? Is Avon searching for me? I doze off thinking off these things, with the knife firmly gripped in my hand.

I awake to a crack of a vines and footsteps. My eyes snap open and I ready my knife; I carefully maneuver myself around in the bush so I can look out through a crack in the leaves. I see Sean and Alice from District 1; they're with the District 5 boy as well. I freeze, and I don't even dare to breath.

"She has to be somewhere around here," Says Alice, then she smirks, "Maybe she is down by the water. She is from District 4."

Sean nods, "We'll head down that way, you—" he points a finger at the District 5 boy, "You watch our backs incase she attacks."

The boy nods and they continue towards the river where I got my water from, they are bound to find the burnt leave from the fire I made last night. I wait about ten minutes and then move slightly to get a drink of water and a packet of dried fruit. Deciding it would be best not to hunt at this moment. I wait to listen for the sound of footsteps but I don't hear any. I grip my knife and exit the bushes, I mess up the leaves I had slept on to rid it off the obvious indent of my butt and body, then I make my way towards who knows what.

With the four tributes dead that leaves twenty of us; with four being bloodthirsty Careers. If it weren't for the fact that I am being hunted I would probably say this arena is beautiful. But since this arena will be my place of death I have to say this place is awful.

The gorgeous flowers, flowing waterfalls, and humongous trees are just mocking me. Letting me know that my death is going to take place soon. I walk through the trees and underbrush until I come to a big wooden wall; I realize it's a damn and that I've reached the end of the arena.

I turn around and decide to find an animal to eat. I have a little bit of monkey left but I don't think it will be enough. I step through the brush and I almost trip on a few hidden vines. I take a step forward and I hear a pop, then something flies past my ear. I break into a dead sprint, darts shoot out from trees and the ground. One hits my leg and it takes everything not to scream out in pain and another hits my arm.

I keep running with the dart still in my leg, blood stains my pants, and I'm becoming light headed. They are poisonous darts. I sprint until I don't hear or feel anything flying past me. I collapse on the ground and remove the darts from my leg and arm. Everything is in a blur and my head is throbbing like crazy.

It's Tracker Jacker venom. I cry out as I see my younger brother being beaten by Peacekeepers. I crawl into a bush and lay there, paralyzed in fear. I see my father, covered in my mother's blood, holding her limp body in his arms as he comes into the house. I see Finnick, being torn apart by mutts. I shriek and then the world goes black.

I awake in a cold sweat and the sun blinds me. I shield my face with my hand and notice fingernail scratches on my arms. I must have attacked myself in my sleep. I can tell I did it because I have skin under my nails. I rub my head and look at the wounds on my leg and arm where the dart impaled me. They are large but the aren't bleeding anymore; instead dried blood is coated over them. They hurt like hell when I touch them.

I open my backpack and take out the salve; I scoop out a little on my finger and sniff it, it smells vile. I place it on the wounds and it burns like crazy. I bite down on my finger to keep from screaming out. After a few moments the pain goes away and when I touch the wounds it feels normal.

I take a sip of water from the canteen and eat the rest of the monkey. I look up at the sky and I can tell by where the sun is that it is mid afternoon. But I have no idea of how long I've been out.

Before leaving my hiding place I braid my hair to keep it out of my face and take off my jacket and stuff it into my backpack. This jungle is incredibly hot and I'm sweating through my shirt. I wipe my forehead and then continue on my journey to nowhere.

Even though I have no idea where I'm going I figure I should keep on the move incase the Careers are catching up to me. Actually, I have no way of knowing if the careers are still alive. I could have been out for a few hours or a few days. I stop and refill my canteen in the river and then carefully balance my way across a log to the other side. The sun is setting and I climb up into one of the tall trees. I nestle myself into a crook and wrap the rope around my waist so I cannot fall.

I have a wonderful view from up here. I can see everything but no one can see me, especially with my dark clothes. I put my mud green jacket back on, despite the heat, to keep me hidden even more. Surprisingly I'm not all that hungry, I know I should eat so I eat a strip of jerky. Savoring every bit of it.

Once it is completely dark I watch the sky for the death toll. The Capitol anthem plays and the video come into the sky. The only person who died today was the boy from District 10. Then something strange happens, Caesar Flickerman is on the screen.

"Hello Capitol people, with the death of the District 5 male, that leaves seventeen Tributes to battle for the win. Lets have a recap of all the deaths so far.

"On the first day, Selena from District 3, Caroline from 5, Hon from 6, and Tom from 12 died. On the second day, no one died, on the third the Cara from District 10. Today Samuel from District 10 died as well." Caesar looks sad, "That leaves Sean and Alice from 1, Alec and Rose from 2, Avon from 3, Annie and Phineas from 4, Cameron from 5." He clears his throat, "Felicity from 6, Jack and Taylor from 7, Ryan and Harper from 8, Fifi and Marcus from 9, Heidi and Olli from 11, and Molly from 12!" He takes a deep breath. "Well, happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." The sky goes black and then fills with stars.

I lean back against the tree and relax; I'm to alert to fall asleep so I just stare up at the sky at the stars. Back home we don't normally have stars, or if we do I don't see them because we are forced into our homes before dark. And when I say forced I mean forced, I've had experience with people who stayed out after curfew, or ran a few minutes late. It never ended well for any of them.

I fall asleep for a little while but I awaken when I hear the sound of a cannon fire. I jump and become thankful for the rope around my waist. I wonder who it was? I pray it wasn't Phineas or Avon. Avon! I should try to find Avon! We did after all have a plan didn't we?

I untie the rope from my waist and put it in my backpack. Then I carefully but swiftly climb down from the tree and land on the ground with a thud. I take my knife out and hunt down another monkey. I roast it and eat it as I walk. After I finish it I throw the bones on the ground and take a drink of water. The temperature is rising so I take my jacket off and put it back in my bag.

Then I hear a blood-curdling scream, a little girl's scream. I debate whether to go find the source of the scream or to not risk it. But then I hear something else,

"Molly!" That's Phineas! I hear something cut through the air and Phineas screams. A cannon sounds. I run to the sound. I come to a halt and I see Phineas standing over a decapitated girl. I gag.

Sean is standing behind Phineas with an axe, chuckling to himself as Phineas cries over the dead girls body. But wait where is Alice? My question is answered when I receive a heavy blow to the back of my legs and I collapse to the ground. Somebody grabs my hair and throws me foreword.

"Look who I found, Sean." She says in a sinister tone, "I told you it would work."

"Should have done this sooner." Sean laughs, "Make sure she is watching."

Watching what?

Alice grabs my hair and holds me in place, I thrash around but it's no use, I would just pull out my own hair. Sean kicks Phineas down and I realize what is coming.

"No!" I shout, "Don't do it! Kill me instead, please don't hurt him!" I scream at Sean, I thrash around more an Alice places a knife on my throat.

"Move and I'll slit your throat."

"Please don't hurt him." I beg pathetically.

Sean just laughs at me, Phineas tries to get up and scramble away but Sean just kicks him down again.

"Is she watching, Alice?"

"Oh yeah." Alice replies.

Phineas, just thirteen years old, closes his eyes and awaits his death. He doesn't try to run anymore, he doesn't cry, or scream. He just waits patiently for the end to come.

Sean brings down the axe with all his might and I watch as it slices through Phineas' neck and blood squirts out in every direction. A cannon sound and I scream, I scream at the top of my lung repeatedly. I scream so loud even the birds go silent.

"Shut her up, Alice."

Alice raises the knife to stab me in the neck but instead I feel warm blood splatter the back of my neck. Another cannon. I collapse to the ground, still screaming. Sean looks confused. Then an arrow shoots right through his forehead. Blood pours over his face and his eyes roll to the back of his head. He drops to his knees and falls over. A cannon sounds.

I crawl over to Phineas' body and cry over it. His young face covered in his blood and separated from his body. I can see everything that we aren't suppose to see. His spine, his inner tissue, its disgusting, but I don't care. I touch his face and cry.

"Annie, Annie we need to move now!" Avon half shouts, "Other's probably heard you scream. Annie please?" He begs. Avon takes my face in his hands and I try to push him away. Avon grabs me and slings me over his shoulder,

"No! Put me down, let me die!" I shout as he runs through the jungle with me on his shoulder. I cry and cry; I'm crying so much I can barely see.

I stop crying and Avon takes me into a cave. He sets me down and looks me over,

"Are you hurt?" He asks me.

I shake my head, "Phineas—" I choke.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

I hear the girl Molly scream again over and over again in my head. I hear the sound of the axe connecting with Phineas' skin. I cover my ears and rock back and forth. It doesn't help I can still hear it.

"Make it stop, make it stop." I beg, Avon's eyes fall and he opens my backpack, pulls out my coat and puts it on my shoulders.

He sets up a small fire and takes a dead bird out of his backpack and skins it. Then he roasts it in the fire. He cuts it in half and hands part of it to me. I shake my head no.

"Annie, you half to eat."

"I'm not hungry, it's yours. You caught it."

He sighs and leaves my half on a rock incase I change my mind. I just sit against the cave wall with my hands over my ears. Reliving the terrible sounds of his death in my mind. I see his face in my mind. His sweet, young face. He had a family back home. I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

When the sun begins to set I finally take the piece of bird and take a small bite.

"Do you want some water?" I ask him, "I have a canteen filled with it."

He shakes his head, "I have my own, but thanks."

I set the bird down and wipe my hand on my pants. My hands were covered in blood and I can taste it in my mouth. I cringe as I notice it on my pants as well. Avon frowns.

"Thank you, for saving me." I say faintly.

"I'm just sorry I didn't get there sooner."

I shake my head, "Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault."

The day suddenly turns to night and Avon and I both look at each other.

"The sun just started to go down," I say, "I wonder what they're up to."

"Probably want to speed things up a bit," He replies, "I guess since it's night time we should get some sleep."

"You can, I'll keep watch."

Avon raises an eyebrow, "You sure?"

"Positive."

Avon nods and props his backpack against the wall for a makeshift pillow. I sit at the mouth of the cave and look at the sky. The list of deaths come up, Molly, Alice, Sean, and Phineas.

I am admiring the stars when I hear the loudest bang I have ever heard. Then I hear the sound of rushing water. I know what it is before I even see the water. The damn has broken and the arena is flooding.

**A/N: Another cliffhanger! I'm addicted to writing this story so don't worry next chapter will be up tonight or tomorrow! :) **


	6. Better Off Dead Than Alive

Water moves faster than light, it moves to kill, to hunt. Water hunts you down, no matter where you hide, it pulls you down, suffocates you. Water is like the devil: there is no hiding. It smells your fear and senses your worries. It finds the ones you love and care for and take them away from you. Water feels no pain, has no regret, there is no control in water.

So when that dam broke and the water pored into the arena, nobody was safe. Especially Avon and I. The water pores into the mouth of the cave and send me flying backwards. Avon is awake now and we both swim to the surface. The cave continues to fill up and we are both panicking.

"We have to take the stuff," I say. I dive down and grab my backpack and Avon's. When I surface the cave is nearly filled. I put my backpack over my back and Avon does the same.

"Take a deep breath," We both breathe in for a minute and then we go under and attempt to swim out of the cave. After kicking hard and nearly choking a few times we surface and are dragged by the current. Avon goes under and I grab his hand.

I can tell he isn't the best swimmer and I offer to take his backpack. He refuses. We hold onto each other as the current takes us. I try to grab onto a tree but it doesn't work. As the current slows I feel something rough graze my leg. Then I feel it again.

"There's something in the water," I say, terrified.

Avon looks around, "Where? What is it?"

"I don't know," I scream. It touches my leg again and then Avon goes under.

"Avon!" I scream; I grab his hand and pull.

"Something's got my leg!" He shouts; he kicks his leg and whatever it is lets go. The beast surfaces and two black eyes are staring right at us.

"Get in a tree!" I yell. The crocodile goes under and takes Avon with it. I dive under and open my eyes. It has Avon by the leg and is thrashing him around. I grab my knife from my boot and go at the crocodile.

I stab it in the head and it releases Avon, but then it grabs my leg. I scream and choke on the water. I stab it again and it lets go, I surface but I don't see Avon.

"Avon?" I shout, "Avon?" I'm turning around in the water and I don't see anything. All I see is flat water.

Avon surfaces and screams bloody murder. Not one, but two crocodiles are going at him. One bites his arm and the other goes under. Avon is taken under and the water turns red. I swim for my life and climb up the nearest tree.

A crocodile surfaces and lunges for my foot just as I climb out of reach. I climb far up into the tree and settle down in a nook. I tie the rope around my waist and then breath. I take a sip of water and then begin to cry.

I punch at the air and kick my legs. As I'm crying Avon's mutilated body surfaces and I scream. He is missing limbs and is a stub of bloody meat. I wail and cry harder than I've ever cried before. A cannon sounds. The cannon makes me cry more because it means he was alive when they ripped his limbs off

I'm cold, and wet, I have a gaping wound on my leg that hurts like crazy, and I have just watched two friend be beheaded and eaten alive. I roll up my pant leg and bite my fist as the cloth takes some of my torn flesh with it. I reach for my backpack for the salve but as I do a silver parachute falls from the sky and lands on the branch next to me. I reach over and grab it. I unscrew the cap and take out its contents. A waterproof bandage, salve, and the things I need for stitches.

"Thank you," I say out loud.

I pore some water on the wound and then put some salve on it. It burns but I take it. After I'm sure it's clean I begin sticking it. Stitching my own wound is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced.

I stick the needle back into my leg and pull it tight, I whimper and repeat the process until I'm finished. I open my backpack and take out the other salve; I put it on the wound, brace myself for the burning, and then all the pain is gone.

I relax against the tree and listen to the cannons: one, two, three, four, five, six seven, eight, and nine. Only five left. Most of the people probably didn't know how to swim, not to mention the crocodiles and god knows what else. I hear a scream and another cannon sounds. That makes four.

I look down at the water and see the crocodiles circling the tree. I decide that I can't stay here forever. I look at my surroundings, which is nothing but trees. The trees are to far away to jump to but if I could just get my rope onto one of the branches I could swing across them. I try to see further in the distance but I have no luck, all I see are trees.

I untie the rope from my waist and look from a good branch to attach it to. I find one close to me and make a lasso with the rope. I swing it and throw it at the tree; it lands around the branch and I tug on it to make sure its stable. I take a deep breath and jump, the wind is cold against my face and I feel alive again. I swing into a branch and the wind is knocked out of me. I climb onto the branch the rest of the way and sit so it's in-between my legs. I untie the rope and get ready to swing again.

I attach it to the next tree and jump. Every time I hit the branch the wind is knocked out of me, but I continue anyway. I bet the Capitol people are sure having a laugh right now. I untie the rope and throw it around a branch that is farther away than the other two were. I jump but the branch break and I fall into the water.

I land in the water with a thud and when I surface I'm being pulled back under, but not by a crocodile. A hand is pushing on my head; someone is trying to drown me. I frantically kick and try to resurface but the person is strong than I am. I grope around underwater for my knife in my boot. I grasp it and stab it into the person's thigh. I'm released and I surface, choking for air. The person recovers quickly and sends a punch at my face. I dodge it and slit his throat. His blood flies onto my face and into my mouth. A cannon goes off.

I choke and kick his body away from me. I climb up the tree I was attempting to swing onto. I reach the rope and untie it; I wrap it over my shoulder and look down at the water. I don't see any crocodiles. The Gamemakers probably took them away.

I realize that with the District 8 boy dead, who I just killed, that means only three of us left. The sun goes down and I know they are ready to end it. I tie myself to the tree and eat a piece of jerky and some dried fruit. I drink more water and then begin my all night vigil. I haven't slept in a while and I'm becoming more tired. I'm scared to go to sleep after that 'dam' stunt they pulled. The Capitol music comes on and shows pictures of all who died. Only the District 2 boy, the District 9 girl, and myself are left.

Morning comes after about five hours and I'm snapped back into reality when I hear a toucan call. The sun is set on the horizon and it is beautiful. I look down at the water: still no crocodiles. I decide to head farther away from the cave; since the dam was that direction as well I figure the water won't be as dense at the other end. Plus, where are the other two people?

I pull out a piece of jerky and rip a little piece off, then drop it into the water. Little fish surface and devour the piece of meat. There are dozens of them, swarming everywhere, even after the meat is gone. Piranhas, they've put piranhas in the water, how lovely.

I untie the rope around my waist and swing it on the closest tree. I tug on it and it stays firmly in place. I jump and come into contact with the branch sooner than I think. I climb onto it, untie the rope, and swing from tree to tree. I make it to a particularly tall tree and climb up it. I look over the arena: it is completely flooded. I spot one area where there is a very large boulder jutting out of the water and go there.

I swing from tree to tree and soon enough it's right in front of me. On the last swing I almost fall off the branch but I catch myself and pull myself onto the branch. I leap from the tree to the boulder and collapse on it panting. I stair up at the bright blue sky and smile. I'm almost out of the arena. For a second I believe I might win, but that an arrow shoots through my leg and I gasp in pain.

I sit straight up and pull the arrow out. A spot her in the tree I had leapt from moment before. She jumps onto the rock and points and arrow at me, she shoots and I roll to the right. It nearly missed me. I stand up and pull my knife out. I'm cringing in pain but I fight through it. She comes at me and tackles me, my knife impales her side but she acts like nothing happened. It's the District 5 girl, Fifi. She tries to strangle me and I head butt her. She falls to the side and I realize my knife is still in her side. She pulls it out and lunges at me with it. I roll backwards and the knife hits the rock. I lunge at her and take her down. The knife impales my leg and I cringe. She stabs my leg repeatedly; I grab her hair and slam her head, with all the power I can muster, into the boulder. I hear a crack and she stops moving. I pull the knife out of my leg and put pressure on the wound. A cannon hasn't sounded yet; she's still alive. I take my knife and slit her throat, not giving it a single second though. The cannon finally sounds.

I take the salve out of my bag and put it on the wound, the pain goes away but it's still bleeding. I wrap the bandage around it and the arrow wound and then take the girl's arrows. I leave her body there; her eyes still open. I close both of her eyes and say I'm sorry.

I stand up and look around at the nothingness around me. I eat a piece of jerky and drink more water since my stomach began to growl. The sun is still high in the sky and I can't help but wonder why. Then it hits me, I mean literally hits me in the back of the head. I fall forward and hold my head, I look at my hand and its covered in blood.

I wheel around and the District 2 boy, looking mad like a rabid dog, is staring down at me. Fury in his eyes, blood smeared on his face, tares in his clothes, and scratches on his arms.

"You! Though I would never find you," He says in a deadly voice, he is wielding a spear. He probably used the end of it to whack me in the head, "I've been looking for you from the start! You're the one everyone's been looking for, you and your perfect little twelve." He snorts.

"You have, have you? Well why didn't you kill me when you were behind me?" I ask him, trying to sidetrack him from brutally murdering me.

"I wanted to see the look on your face when I stab you in the face." He replies back nonchalantly.

I stand up, "I see. So, how did you manage to get on this rock?" I ask him.

"I've been here the whole time. From the moment the arena flooded. Hiding over there." He points to where the boulder become ragged and slopes down.

"Interesting, I—"

"Shut up, I came here to kill you not make conversation." He barks.

"Then by all means, kill me!" I shout, "End this!"

He smiles and comes towards me, throwing the spear onto the ground, "I've changed my mind, I'll just beat you to death with my fists instead."

He comes at me and I duck under him crawling through his legs. He stops, just short of falling into the water. He wheels around and charges me again, when I go to step aside he grabs me and sends a punch into my gut. I recover and send a kick into his groin. He gasps in pain but stay alert. When I come at him with a knife he grabs my hand with one of his hands and uses the other to grab my throat, lifting me up into the air.

I flail my legs around and use my free hand to claw at his hand. He laughs and throws me to the ground. When I hit the rock the wind is knocked out of me. He laughs again and looms over me. He bends down next to me and takes my knife out of my hand.

"You're pathetic really, thinking you could overpower me. Look at the size of you." He scoffs. "Pathetic." He takes the knife and cuts my cheek with it. Blood rises to the surface and a tear escapes my eye.

"So pathetic," He repeats as he drags the knife down my collarbone and then down into the V of my shirt.

"Pathetic but incredibly hot." He says. He drags the knife across my stomach next and I kick my legs. "Don't kick sweet heart, it makes the cut deeper."

While he's busy slice my stomach I slide my arm above my head, while trashing around. The arrows that were on my back had spilt when I was thrown and all of them lay above my head. I grab one.

"I guess this is enough, but wasn't this fun?" He asks me cynically. The craziness in his eyes growing with every cut. He examines the knife and then looks down at me,

"Well, I guess it was nice knowing you." He shrugs. He brings the knife down and I quickly move my head to the side. He yells in fury as the knife breaks against the rock. I smile and bring the arrow forward, shoving it directly into his right eye. He cries out in pain.

"Thought you could kill me easily, didn't you?" I kick him off of me and stand over him, "Thought that since I was a pore, helpless, scrawny girl you could take advantage of me." I shake my head; "There's no way in hell."

He clings to his eyes with the arrow sticking out of it and I grab the knife. With one quick movement I slit his throat and then kick his body into the water. Piranhas quickly devour him and the final cannon goes off. I have won the 70th Hunger Games.

Caesar Flickerman's voice fills the arena and I drop to the ground. Blood stains my hands, shirt, probably my face, and it's all over the boulder. I cover my ears and try to block out all the noise.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Annie Cresta, the Victor of the 70th Annual Hunger Games!" He shouts proudly.

A hovercraft comes down and I'm taken by Peacekeepers onto it. I'm strapped into a chair and the sensation of being pinned against the wall returns. Silent tears run down my cheeks. I see Phineas being decapitated again, Avon's mutilated body floating in the water, the piranhas devouring Alec, and Molly's bloodcurdling scream. I put my hands over my ears and curl my fingers around my ear.

The hovercraft lands and I am forced to get up and leave. I limp off the hovercraft, silent tears still on my face. I'm led into a hospital and they don't bother to help me ever though I'm practically bleeding to death.

The cool breeze of the hospital hits me like the water did that night in the cave and I cry more. A peacekeeper tells me which way to go and what directions to turn. I turn a corner and I see Finnick standing at the end of the hallway. He is talking angrily with a woman at the desk.

"Finnick!" I shout, my tears of sorrow turn to tears of joy as I run awkwardly towards him. He turns and sees me, he opens his arms and I jump into them. Giving him a giant kiss. He holds me tightly, like he's never going to see me again. His hand is on the back of my head, deepening the kiss, and the other on my waist. I cry as I lace my finger through his bronze locks and kiss him harder.

We are the only two people in the world. There are no doctors or peacekeepers with us. Just us. I place my hand on the side of his face and wipe one of his tears away. He hugs me tighter and puts his head next to my ear.

"That was real," He whispers. I cry more and he kisses me again, this time not as passionately though. He sets me down and a peacekeeper immediately place a hand on my shoulder and tells me to go into the hospital room marked 33, which is behind me.

"No, I'm fine." I say; the peacekeeper pulls me backwards roughly. I wince in pain.

"Hey," Finnick says, "Easy." He growls at the peacekeeper.

"Orders say she must," The peacekeeper growls back. He takes me buy my upper arm and begins pulling me down the hall. I shriek and try to fight him.

"Let me go!" I shout, "I'm fine!" I cry out, tears pouring down my cheeks, "Let me go home! Finnick—" I sob and my last sentence is cut off by me being thrown into a room. The last thing I saw in the hall was Finnick trying to break through a wall of three peacekeepers.

I'm sedated while the doctors heal my wounds. I dream of the first day in the arena, the beautiful rainforest and my great hiding spot. Then my dream turns to a nightmare as I relive the death of Phineas over-and-over in my mind. I scream and cry and kick.

I awake to an empty room and realize I'm strapped to the bed. It feels like when Alec had me pinned to the ground and I thrash around, unable to move an inch. A nurse enters the room,

"If you would quit kicking like that I can unstrap you. Do you think you could do that for me?" She asked me angrily.

I nod and she takes the things off, I stretch my arms, "Where's Finnick?"

The nurse is checking my readings on the machine and doesn't look up when she says, "Mr. Odair is waiting outside, I'll call him in for you." She writes something down on her tablet and then leaves. I hear her tell Finnick I'm awake and he hurries into the room, shutting the door behind him.

He rushes over to my bed and he embraces me again. He smells my hair, kisses my face, feels my skin, and I notice he is drawn to one particular spot on my face.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"There's a scar on your face, they couldn't get it to go away." He kisses it, "But a scar is nothing, it's just great that you're alive."

I stroke his cheek, "I thought I was never going to see you again."

He smiles, "I told you, you would win." He leans in and kisses me; I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me. I pull away, remembering something,

"When do we get to leave?"

"They said when you woke up, so today." He smiles.

"How long have I been out?"

"About a day an a half." He says.

I rub my head, " I want to leave, now."

Finnick nods, all right. I yank out all of the wire attached to me and stand up. Finnick takes my hand and we walk out of the room together. Doctors look at us as we pass. Finnick glares at them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Asks the same nurse who took the restraints off me.

"She's going home," Finnick says for me. The nurse looks back and forth between us.

"Fine."

We walk out of the hospital and get into a car to be driven to the hotel. When we arrive at the hotel I am told that tonight I am to give an interview on Caesar Flickerman's show. I just nod and go to my room. Without getting out of my doctors slip I turn on the shower and get in. I let the warm water run over me and I start crying again.

I sob and scream and kick at the wall, I sink to the floor and cry into my hands. I hear my bedroom door open and then Finnick comes into the bathroom. He sees me crying on the floor of the shower and turns the water off. He sits down next to me and takes me into his arms, letting me cry on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks me.

"They killed him," I sob, "They took his head right off!" I cry into his neck and he pets the back of my head.

"I know." He whispers.

"And they didn't even think twice about it! He was only thirteen!" I cry. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"They have to, Annie. It's the rules."

"He was so young, had his whole life ahead of him!" I cry until I have no more tears and I'm just shaking in Finnick's arms.

"I'm so sorry you had to see it. Let's get you in bed." He picks me up bridal style and takes me to the bed. He hands me my robe and turns around while I put it on. When he turns back around he looks at me sadly.

"I don't want to go on the show, why can't I just go home?" I fall onto the bed and Finnick sits beside me.

"Because the Capitol is filled with sick people." He kisses my forehead.

I nod, "You know what they don't tell you at the Reaping's?"

"What?" Finnick responds.

"That you're probably better off dead than becoming a Victor."

**A/N: R&R! Hope you guys liked this chapter! **


	7. After Affects

Finnick frowns at me and kisses my forehead. He rests his forehead against mine and I close my eyes. It is so nice to be back with him. After I was sure I was never going to see him again.

The door of my bedroom flies open and my prep team nearly topples into the room. They all look happy and are wearing weirder outfits that usual.

"Oh, Annie it's so good to see you!" Chanel cries, "We though for sure you were going to die."

"Gee, thanks." I mumble. I open my eyes and pull away from Finnick.

"With that skinny body of yours you were easy meat, how did you do it Annie?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." I say and rub my head.

"Oh, please?" The three of them beg.

"She said she didn't want to talk about it," Finnick growls at them. They all look taken aback and stick their noses up at him.

"Well then, Annie. Come, come, we must get you ready for your interview." Eva says.

"Oh but it's in two hours." I say.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Amandla says flatly.

Without thinking I bolt up, walk over to her and get right in her face, "Have I looked in a mirror lately? What do you think?" I shout, "I've been in an arena for the past, what, two weeks fighting for my life! You have no idea what its like in there and then you ask me if I've looked in a mirror lately! You don't ask me if I'm okay! Or if maybe I want some time to myself? No, you ask me if I've looked in a mirror lately!" Finnick gets up and places a hand on my shoulder, telling me that is enough. Amandla is on the verge of tears, "Maybe we should put you into the arena, every one of you. Then if any of you make it out I'll ask you about a goddamn mirror! And tell you I thought you were going to die! Or that with your skinny body you were easy meat!" Now I'm crying and screaming at all of them.

"Leave, all three of you, get out!" I shout, "I don't want to see any of you! If you want me done up let me see Pixie!" They all hurry out of the room; Eva's arm is around Amandla, comforting her.

I sit down on the bed and cry into my hands, Finnick closes the door and sits down next to me. He tucks a strand of wet hair behind my ear,

"They don't mean to sound awful, you know?" He brushes a tear off my cheek with his thumb.

"Why would they say that to me? Tell me they thought I was going to die. You don't say that to a person. Don't people have any sense?"

Finnick shakes his head, "Not here they don't."

The bedroom door opens again and Finnick angrily looks at whoever it is, but when he sees it is Pixie his gaze softens. Pixie comes over and stands in front of me,

"I'm so glad you're all right," She says sweetly, "And you still manage to look beautiful." Finnick smiles as he holds me in his arms, "You ready to go get ready?" He asks me, "I don't think she'll act the same way as they did."

I stand up, "I know she won't." I let Pixie lead me to the door and then I'm taken somewhere knew. I'm taken downstairs into the hotel lobby, Capitol people surround me and all I'm in is a robe.

She takes me through a door and down a long hallway. We enter a room and I'm amazed by how beautiful it is. The walls are a rose red and there is gold trim going around the ceiling and around the bottom. There is also golden detailing in the walls that look like roses as well. The floor is marble but it has a red carpet over it.

Pixie tells me to sit down in a chair by the mirrors as she is going to explain my outfit to me.

"We won't have to prep you don't worry, they took care of all that at the hospital. Also they didn't redo your face, so don't worry. They wanted to add Capitol things to you but Finnick wouldn't allow it." She claps her hands together, "Well I'm not going to make you wear something sexy like the dress you wore last time. I was thinking we'd put you in a knee length dress that is the same color as you eyes, it will be one shouldered, and of course you'll have the signature gold belt and coral crown." I nod as she continues talking, "Then for your shoes, I was thinking just simple pumps. Can you walk in pumps?"

"I did the night of the interview."

"But your leg is all right, right?" She asks me.

I smile, "Yes, yes it's all better."

"Brilliant. Now your makeup will be simple as well: bronzer on the cheeks, mascara, concealer to get rid of the dark circles under your eyes, and of course some gloss. I'm not going to cover up that scar though."

"Why not?"

"I want the people of the Capitol to know they did that to your pretty little face," She smirks devilishly, "Lets begin!"

She starts out by putting curls in my hair, then she puts it up in a messy, but beautiful, bun; she lets a few curls fall down around my face. Then she takes forever to do the concealer under my eyes, they must be big dark circles. She applies bronzer on my cheekbones, mascara to my eyes, and clear gloss to my lips. I then get into my dress and she zippers the back of it up. She ties the braided, golden belt around my waist and helps me into my six-inch heels that are a light tan.

She stands back and admires her work, tears form in the corners of her eyes, and she sniffles.

"You're just so beautiful!" She cries, "Where's Finnick, he must see you." She darts out of the room and ten minutes later Finnick enters the room. I had wondered away from the mirrors and was admiring her extensive makeup collection. I didn't hear Finnick come in, so when he placed both of his hands on my shoulders I jumped ten feet high.

"Whoa," He chuckles, "Just me." He hugs me from behind and kisses my shoulder, right where Alec had sliced it. I flinch and shake my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Finnick, say quickly, "Did I hurt you?"

I shake my head, "No, no, I'm sorry. That was just where Alec sliced me with the knife." I rub my neck with my hand awkwardly.

"Oh, Annie, I forgot. I'm so sorry."

"You had no way of knowing, you weren't there."

"Annie, I was watching you the whole time," Finnick brushes a piece of hair behind my ear, "I've barely slept in the last few weeks. I've been so worried about you."

"But you weren't there, Finnick. You didn't feel it."

Finnick sighs, "But I know what its like being in the arena, I've been in it before."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Finnick kisses me sweetly and pixie comes back into the room,

"Annie it's time—oh sorry, I'm interrupting!" She blushes and Finnick quickly pulls away.

Pixie sways over to a glass showcase and opens it; she takes out the coral crown and then places it on my head.

"Oh, Finnick isn't she beautiful?" Pixie sighs dreamily.

Finnick nods, "She's gorgeous."

Finnick kisses my cheek and tells me he will see me after the show. Pixie and I get in a car and are driven to Caesar's studio. I'm ushered backstage and I

listen as Caesar gets the crowd going,

"Ladies and gentlemen, you loved her from the moment she first appeared in that stunning blue dress, your love grew after the second blue dress, and we all loved her signature coral crown! We all loved her kindness, her determination, her promise to her little brother; we all knew she was going to win! Ladies and gents, I give the winner of the 70th Annual Hunger Games, Annie Cresta!"

A worker gives me a push and I hurry onto the stage, I look out at the vast crowd and wonder why they are cheering for me. They have watched me kill people and yet they still love me; how can they love me when I can barely stand what I've done and myself?

"Over here Annie," Caesar takes my hand and kisses it, "You are looking as beautiful as always, my dear. Sit, sit." He sits in his interviewer chair and I sit on the purple sofa. I cross my legs as Caesar tries to quiet the crowd.

"Now, Annie. What does it feel like, knowing you're still alive and you'll get to see your family again?"

I swallow, "Well, I'm happy I'll get to see them. But at the same time it feels awful being the only one coming out of the arena. Knowing what you've done, remembering what you've seen."

"I can't even imagine." He shakes his head.

That is right, you can't because your life is perfect isn't it? Never had to sacrifice anything.

"So, I'm sure Finnick was happy to see you?" He wiggles his eyebrows, "That kiss was all over magazine covers for about a week!"

A crooked smile forms on my lips, "He was thrilled I was back, that's for sure."

"Do you have any plans on what you're going to do with the money?"

"Well, I'll help provide for my family so they won't have to work anymore. I was actually thinking of buying a boat."

"A boat?"

"Yes, well it is District 4, isn't it? All about water." I smile and so does Caesar.

"I'm going to ask you one more question and then you get to go receive your Victor's crown." He clears his throat, "What was it like, seeing the other District 4 Tribute loose his head?"

Why on earth would he ask me that? The screams come back into my head and the sound of the axe connecting with his neck. I place my hands over my ears and try to block it out. Caesar just stares at me like I'm crazy and when he repeats the question I don't answer.

"Well," He clears his throat, "Ladies and Gentlemen, give another round of applause for Annie Cresta, winner of the 70th Annual Hunger Games!" The crowd goes wild and I remain as I am with my hands over my ears.

When the lights dim I hurry off the stage, hands still covering my ears. I run behind stage and try to find Finnick or Pixie. I run into Pixie and she tells me he had no right to ask me that, then she tells me to take my coral crown off. I do and then I'm led by a worker down a hallway and out onto a balcony.

My eyes widen as I see where I am. I'm standing in front of all of the Capitol, probably all of Panem, and President Snow is standing right next to me. I'm instructed to stand on a platform as President Snow says a few words. I don't listen to them, even if I wanted to I couldn't, I have to many noises in my head already.

President Snow opens a glass container and takes out a golden crown with intricate designs on it, and it has my name engraved in it. He walks in front of me,

"Congratulations," His breath smells like blood. He places the crown on my head and the people of the Capitol cheer loudly.

A few cameras come by and take pictures of me and then I'm taken back inside. I'm led by Peacekeepers outside, they put me in a car, and I'm driven to the hotel. At the hotel I meet up with Finnick and Mags.

They tell me it's time to leave and to say goodbye to Pixie. Saying goodbye to Pixie was a tearful event, she cried and cried. She gave me my coral crown to take home and I thanked her. It would only be three months until I saw her again for the victory tour.

Finnick, Mags, and I are taken in a black car to the train station. I wave goodbye to all of the cameras and the people, then I step onto the train and the door seals behind me. Leaving all of the craziness the Capitol is behind me. I'm finally going home to my family, I'm going to get to see my brother and my father, I'm going to get to see Francesca! But then I remember something important: Francesca told me she wouldn't be there when I got back, she told me she was going to die.

But what is one more death? One more inconvenient death of a person—of a child? I've already witnessed horrible things; a death I did not see is nothing compared to what I saw in the arena.

I shake the evil thoughts out of my head and go to my bedroom; I take off the dress, my shoes, and place my Victor's crown on my side table. I open the closet door and pull out a pair of shorts and a plain shirt. I put them both on and look out the train window.

The sun is just beginning to set but for me it feels like it should be three in the morning. The stupid time in the arena has messed with my internal clock. The Capitol fades in the distance and now the outside is a river with mountains on both sides.

The water makes me want to be home even more. To go swimming in the ocean, lie out on the beach, see my family, and be with Finnick. I want to smell the salt water and have sun burnt cheeks again. I want to be home.

I go out to the dining area of the train and pick up a piece of bread. I bite into it and my mouth waters. I realize I haven't eaten in hours and I'm starving. After a week or two of nothing but jerky, dried fruit, and monkey this bread tastes like heaven would. I finish the roll and eat two more. After I eat those I eat some mini teacakes, then have a bowl of lamb stew, and then eat a scone.

I sit down in a chair and rub my stomach; I'm so full! Mags comes into the room and sits across from me. I stare at her and she looks back at me, then a smile spreads across her face.

"I'm glad you're back," She says, "Finnick wouldn't have survived if you died. You should have seen him while you were in there."

"What was he like?"

"He stayed up every night watching the Games, making sure you were alive. He would scream at the television some nights, everyone thought he was crazy. Kept telling him you couldn't hear him."

"Well I couldn't," I say flatly, "It's nice to know he cared so much though. I'm sorry about Phineas, I know you two spent a lot of time together."

Mags places a hand on my knee, "I'm sorry you had to see that happen."

"In the Victor's Village, what is it like?" I ask her, trying to change the subject.

She leans back in her chair, heaving a heavy sigh, "Very clean, very big, and it doesn't smell like fish."

I smile, "What are the houses like?"

"They're on the water and they each come with a section of private beach and a private doc. There are six rooms on the top floor and four rooms on the bottom. Each bedroom comes with it's own bathroom and the office looks over the water. I don't know why they think we need an office though. The kitchen is my favorite part of the house because it's huge. I don't know how to describe it—its just wonderful. Then there is a family room, which is lovely as well; comes with a giant television and two sofas. Then of course there is a huge bathroom downstairs and a library."

"A library?" My face lights up and Mags sees it.

She nods, "Huge; filled with book old ones and new ones. Although the new ones are nothing compared to the classics."

"That's wonderful," I say. Finnick enters the room grabs a piece of bread, then he sits down next to me and looks from Mag to myself.

"What's wonderful?" He asks and takes a bite of the bread.

"Mags was telling me about the Victor's Village," I explain, "How there's a library and the bedrooms each have their own private bathroom, and there's an office that overlooks the water, and—"

"The village is wonderful," Finnick agrees, "I was actually wondering if I could talk to you alone for a minute, Annie."

I raise an eyebrow, "Sure. We'll be right back Mags."

Finnick and I stand up and as we pass the tables with food and drinks I quickly grab a glass of water. Finnick leads me down the hallway towards our bedrooms, instead of going into mine like we usually do, he takes me into his. I drink my water and wait for Finnick to speak.

"When we get home there will be a lot of people wanting to talk to you, asking you questions." He begins, "You can talk to them if you want or I can just take you and your family to your new house."

"I think I'll go with the second one," I say, "Finnick, where is your house in the village?"

"It's next to Mags', so I'll be across from your home."

I nod, "That's good."

"You can come over whenever you want, Annie."

"Thank you," I say, "Do you know how much longer until we're there?"

"Tomorrow morning is when we're suppose to get there." He replies.

"Okay, that's not to bad," I shrug. I stand up and walk to the door, "I think I'm going to go get some rest, I'm exhausted."

"Do you want to stay in here? Plenty of room," He asks me.

"Okay, that sounds nice."

I place the glass of water on the side table and we crawl into bed together. He wraps his arms around me protectively and I immediately fall asleep.

I dream that I'm swimming in river with a beautiful waterfall in it. I'm floating on my back and looking up at the bright blue sky. Flowers overpower the land and the air smells like spring. I close my eyes and relax; then something bites down, hard, on my leg and pulls me under.

I scream and try to kick at whatever it is. It releases me and I surface, I jump out of the water and a crocodile surfaces. My leg is bleeding as I limp through the flowers. Then I spot something coming at me, a monster? No, Alec. Alec after he had been ripped to shreds by piranhas. His skin is practically gone and he is a walking corpse, bloody and disheveled. I scream and he grabs me. His hands are slimy and blood smears on my arms. I scream again and punch him in the nose. He bites my neck and tears it open; my scream pierces through the air and blood squirts out of my wound.

"No!" I scream in terror, "Get off me!" I shout through tears.

"Annie wake up!" It is Finnick's voice. My eyes open and I realize I'm shaking. Finnick's nose is bleeding and he is holding the bed sheet to it, trying to stop the blood.

"Finnick, your nose!" I say, alarmed, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, Annie. Are you okay?" He asks me. He drops the bloody sheet and holds my shaking body. His embrace is warm and comforting.

"I'm fine, just a bad dream."

"Want to tell me about it?" He asks.

"No,"

"Are you sure?"

I blurt out, "Oh Finnick, it's all coming back! The crocodiles, the screams, Avon, Alec," I whimper, "Phineas."

Finnick strokes my hair, "You'll recover soon enough, and you'll block it out, trust me."

I look up at him and cringe when I see how bloody his nose is, I sit up and wipe the blood carefully from his nose, "I'm sorry I punched you."

"It's fine, I better remember not to make you angry, you've got one hell of a hit."

I blush but he can't see it in the dark, "It's not broken don't worry."

He sighs in relief, "Thank god! Do you have any idea how bad it would be for this beautiful face to get damaged?"

I laugh, "It would be terrible, wouldn't it?"

He nods, "Children would cry, that's how terrible it would be. Could you imagine if I ended up looking like Haymitch?"

Haymitch is the only living Victor from District 12; he is always drunk, incredibly sloppy, and very rude.

"That's terrible!" I laugh, "It's not his fault he didn't inherit his looks from the Gods."

Finnick and I both laugh and he falls back on his pillow. I lean down over him and kiss him. His arms find their way around my waist and I pull away.

"Thank you," I say and run my fingers through his hair.

He cocks his head to the side, "What for?"

"For being you." We both smile and he reverses us so he is lying over top of me.

"I missed you so much," He says, "You have no idea."

"I think I can get a pretty close idea. You forget that I missed you too."

He kisses me and I melt. His kisses are like sugar cubes, they are sweet, they make you feel alive inside, and they are addictive. He pulls away and falls down beside me. I turn my head and look at him; he places a hand on my stomach and pulls me closer to him. I snuggle into his chest and kiss his collarbone.

"How do you think people will handle, us?" I ask nervously.

"I think they'll handle it well, except maybe your dad. Since he is your dad and dads are like that."

"No, I mean the Capitol people. All of the women fawn over you like they think they're meant to be with you."

Finnick sighs, "Can we talk about this in the morning?"

I nod, "All right, goodnight Finnick."

"Night Annie."

**A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter! Thank you so much for all of the great reviews, they really make my day! Okay so my perfect Finnick is Garret Hedlund, I think he would be a perfect choice. But that's just my opinion for who they should cast. Please comment telling me who you think should play Finnick, I love hearing other Finnatics choices! :) R&R! XOXO!**


	8. Chapter 8

**WARNING: In this chapter the smuttiness begins.**

My eyes flutter open and I stretch my arms and yawn. I rub my eyes and the room comes into focus; it's shaking slightly and I remember we are still on the train. The room is cold so I try to pull the covers over my body more, only to realize that Finnick's muscular arm is weighing them down. Instead of shoving his arm and waking him up in the process I just snuggle into his body more. He stirs for a second but quickly falls back asleep. I place a hand on his bare chest and sigh as I feel his ripped soft skin and his ripped abs.

I feel bad about the night before for waking him up late at night screaming and then when he tries to wake me out of my nightmare I punch him in the nose. Smooth Annie, real smooth. His nose is not red anymore but underneath of it there are bloodstains. I remind myself to get rid of them for him before we are home.

Home! I carefully and quietly crawl out of bed, stopping every few second to make sure I'm not waking Finnick. Once I'm completely out of bed I run to the window and look out. I see the ocean! We are almost home! I lean against the wall and look out the window admiring the scenery. As soon as I get home I am going to go swimming. I'm dying to get in the salt water and swim around.

There are grey clouds in the sky and I hear a rumble of thunder. Little raindrops land on the window and after a few minutes it is poring. I love it when it rains in District 4. The way the waves get bigger, the way the rain feels against your skin, and how it smells. When it rains I normally go to a small beach hidden by boulders and brush. I'll lay out on the beach and let the rain wash over me, listen to the thunder, and sometimes I will even go into the water. But normally it is too rough and I don't want to risk drowning. Maybe I'll take Finnick there one day.

I look over at Finnick and he is still asleep; he looks so peaceful and sweet when he's sleeping. I think of how lucky I am to be alive and be with him. For someone like me to be with someone like him never happens and if it does happen it is in fairy tales or stories. I am just a naive girl who screams in her sleep and Finnick is a strong, confident, truly wonderful man.

Finnick grunts in his sleep and his eyes open wide. He looks frantically around the room and his eyes settle on me. He wipes the perspiration off his forehead and breaths heavily.

"Is everything all right?" I ask, worried. I walk back over to the bed and crawl in. I sit, perched on my knees, as Finnick calms himself down.

"Yeah, just a bad dream." He pushes a piece of hair behind my shoulder and pulls me down so that I'm lying next to him.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" I ask again as I trace circles on his chest.

He kisses the top of my head, "Yup."

We lay in each other's arms and I listen to the sound of his heart beating. I look up at him and he is staring at the ceiling, he looks as if he is thinking about something.

"What you thinking about?" I ask him.

He looks down at me and then back up, "I don't want you to get alarmed by this, but I have to ask: have you ever slept with a guy before? Not slept but—"

"I know what you're talking about," I chuckle, then I blush, "and no I haven't. I wanted to save it for someone special." I kiss his chest and he smiles.

"Good, because if you had I would have to kill them." He smirks.

I slap his chest playfully and say, "You sound like my father. I remember when he found out about my first kiss he went to the boy's house and nearly hit him. It took forever to calm him down."

Finnick laughs, "What is your dad like?"

"Protective." I say simply.

"Oh, well this should be interesting."

"He will probably like you. Since you helped keep me alive in the arena."

"I honestly think you did that all by yourself." Finnick lets go of me and gets out of bed, he runs his hands through his hair, and then he leans down and gives me a quick kiss.

"I'm going to go take a shower, I'll meet you at breakfast." He lingers in front of my face for a few seconds and then goes into the bathroom.

"You're such a tease," I moan and throw a pillow at him. He laughs and shuts the bathroom door, I hear the water go on a few seconds later.

I find myself thinking about what Finnick looks like naked. Are his legs as muscular as his stomach? Does his body glisten when it is wet? Is his manhood huge? I would expect it to be.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I ask myself out loud. I have never before in my life thought about a man's manhood and now I'm wondering all about Finnick's.

I get out of bed and head to my bedroom; I go inside and take off my clothes, then step into my own shower. As the water runs over my body I image what it would be like to shower with Finnick. To have him touching every inch of my body, to have him kiss every part of me, to be able to feel him, hot and wet against my body. What it would feel like to have him inside of me, to take me and make me his, to have him do whatever he wants to my body. I snap out of my daydream and finish up my shower. I dry off and then change into a new pair of shorts and a tank top.

I head out to the breakfast table and grab a croissant; I sit down at the table, and eat it. The room is empty besides the television and myself. They are replaying parts of the Games; I get sick of it and try to turn it off but it will not work. I decide to watch it and face my fears.

They are replaying scenes from when the gong sounded and about four of the Tributes were killed. A girl gets her throat cut and the killer is splashed with a fountain of blood, another boy is shot with an arrow and then beaten to death. I try to look away but I can't. Next they flash to the scene where I bashed a girl's head in with a rock. Then they switch to the Careers, showing them hunting me. They walked past my fort in the bushes three times. Then they show Molly's death and I know what is coming next. I hurry out of the room and down the hall.

I end up bumping into Mags and she asks me why I am in such a rush.

"Oh, I uh, had to get away from the television." Is ay stupidly.

"They don't ever turn off, you know. The ones in the houses do though." She explains.

"That's good, hey do you know how long until we're there?"

"About twenty more minutes." She tells me, "You should go collect your things, feel free to steel the clothes from here they don't care." She walks past me and I go back to my room.

I find a bag in the closet and fill it with all the clothes I want. I laugh as I stuff all the shirts I like into it, then all the shorts, and finally some shoes. I then head over to Finnick's room and raid his closet as well. I figure if Finnick does not want these I'll give them to father or my brother.

The bathroom door opens and a cloud of steam pores out of it, Finnick steps out next in nothing but a towel. I bite my lip and turn my attention back to packing. Moving certain items around so I have something to look at other than him.

"What are you doing?" He asks me, cocking his head to the side.

I look back at him but quickly look away, "Mags said I could take the clothes, so I am."

Finnick laughs, "That's a good idea, can't be picky about what clothes you have in District 4."

"Yeah, I know."

I can almost hear Finnick smirk, "Hey Annie, turn around."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

I turn around and see him standing there with no shirt, a wet chest, and a thin towel around his waist.

"Yes?" I try to look at him but I can't do it. I keep breaking eye contact and looking at the wall like there is something interesting on it.

"Annie?" I look back at him and he strikes a provocative pose, "Do you find this, distracting?" He wiggles his eyebrows and I snort and try to contain my laughter. When he continues wiggling his eyebrows I start laughing out loud. I fall over on the bed and hold my stomach as I laugh so hard tears form in the corners of my eyes.

"Oh, Finnick." I giggle, "You really are crazy."

He looms over me and his smell overpowers me. I run my finger down his chest, over the line of hair leading to his manhood, and when I get to the towel edge, I stop.

"We're going to be there soon, hurry up and get dressed." I wiggles out from underneath of him and stand up, leaving him speechless on the bed.

"You little tease," He says, astonished. I giggle, grab my bag and hurry out of his room to go back to mine.

I look out the window and I can see District 4 in the Distance. I smile brightly and ten minutes later we are pulling to a halt at the train station. I run out of the room, bag in hand, and go grab Finnick out of his room. He is all dressed and ready to go.

Mags meets us at the train door and smiles at both of us. I see the crowd outside of the door and I begin to get nervous. Finnick squeezes my hand reassuringly and the train door opens. I step out first and all of District 4 cheers. I smile and wave at the crowd but on the inside I just want to see my family. Finnick and Mags come out next and Finnick takes my hand. Mags spots her son and grandson and waves us goodbye. I smile as she is reunited with her family.

Finnick and I make our way past the crowd and then get into a Capitol car like we were instructed. We are driven through town, past my old house, and then taken to the Victors Village. The Village is one long dock with beach on either side. Each house is huge and has a private dock just like Mags said. We pull up in front of a cream colored house that has many windows in it. Finnick and I get out of the car and the driver drives back towards town.

"You like it?" He asks me.

I nod, "Lets go inside."

When we step inside the house the feeling is completely different than my old house. Instead of being hit by hot air, I am hit by cold air, and the smell of the beach. When you first go inside there is a small hallway, on the right are stairs leading to the bedrooms, on the left there is an archway, which leads into the dining room, then that goes into the kitchen. We follow the arches until we are in the living room. Where my father and Charlie are standing, waiting for me.

I burst out into tears and run to them both. I take Charlie into my arms and hold him so tightly I think I might break him; father hugs me so tightly I think I might break, and we all cry. Father pulls out of the hug and holds my face in his hands,

"I'm so glad you're back," He chokes.

Charlie lets go of me and looks up, "I knew you could win." I kiss the top of Charlie's head and tell them both how much I missed them. I turn around and take Finnick's hand in mine; I clear my throat and prepare to explain his presence.

"Dad, this is—"

"Finnick Odair," He breathes, he sticks his hand out at Finnick and he and Finnick shake hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Says Finnick. I try to conceal a smile as father and Finnick shake hands. It is so weird hearing Finnick say sir; I've never heard him talk like that to an adult.

"I can't thank you enough for helping Annie prepare." Father says, "Thank you for bringing my little girl home."

Finnick looks at me, and smiles, "It was my pleasure, sir. You're very welcome."

"Are you an my sister dating?" Charlie asks, "We saw that picture on the news."

Finnick and I look at each other and we both nod, "Yes, we are." I say. I see father-eyeing Finnick with 'that look.'

"Daddy…" I say warningly.

"No, no, no, I like this one." Father says, "He seems smart and sensible. But mark my words by, you hurt my little girl and—"

"Daddy!" I cut him off angrily.

Father puts his hands up in defense, "I'm just warning him. Gives him a fair start."

I eye him for a moment and then tell them I'm going off to explore the house. I keep Finnick by my side the whole time. We go upstairs and examine my bedroom.

It is huge! It has a king sized bed, a big window over looking the water, a bathroom, a walk in closet stocked with my old clothes and new ones, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and a chair.

"This is amazing," I breathe, "Let's go look at the office." I run to the office and Finnick follows behind me.

The office is about the same size as my bedroom. It has a large desk with a big chair, bookshelves on the walls, a fireplace, and some sitting chairs. I look at the view of the water and I remember how much I want to go swimming.

Finnick and I bid father and Charlie goodbye and then we both begin walking to my Secret Beach.

"You have a Secret Beach?" Finnick asks me as me walk through town. People congratulate me and I thank them.

"Yup," I nod, "I've never seen anyone else there before."

"Are you sure you want to go swimming? It looks like it's going to rain."

"If it starts raining we can just sit on the beach, I have a sheet stashed there."

We pass by the mayor's house and then we are walking past the beach where everyone goes. We walk through some brush, then we climb over some boulders, push through more brush, and finally we have made it to my secret beach.

There are barely any waves and the water looks perfect. Finnick and I both kick off out shoes and run into the water. I dive in and go under. The water hits me in the face and I'm alive again. I surface and find that Finnick went under as well. I swim up to him and he holds me in his arms, in the water I weigh nothing. He kisses me and I kiss back. When he kisses me all the troubles in the world are gone. I see a happy and bright future; I see stars, and beautiful things. I pull away and Finnick sways me back and forth in the water.

A raindrop hits Finnick's nose, signaling the storm has arrived. A few droplets after the first the full rain comes down; it is not poring but it is very wet. I look up at the sky and let the rain hit my face, I smile and begin to laugh.

"I love it here." I breathe.

"I do to." Finnick says. I have floated away from Finnick and he swims over and picks me up bridal style. He kisses me again, this time more passionately and I loose myself in his kiss. I break away, out of breath,

"We should get out, water getting chilly." Finnick nods and splashes me.

"Hey!" I shout playfully. I splash him back and so ensues our splashing war.

I run towards the shore and Finnick follows behind me. I fall and splash into the water. Finnick stand over me splashing me. I regain my balance and splash at him. We continue running towards land and when we arrive we both collapse on the wet sand.

The ocean water comes up to our knees and then recedes back into the vast ocean. Finnick and I both pant and laugh at the same time. The rain continues to fall on our faces and soak our clothes and hair. Finnick rolls over to me and kisses me,

"We should come here more often," He says. I run my hands over his arms and reach up to meet his lips, we kiss again.

"Definitely." I mumble as I kiss down his neck, he tastes like salt water.

Finnick is fully on top of me now and is kissing my neck. The water runs over our feet again and then goes back. Tired of being teased, I pull Finnick's head to mine and kiss him deeply and lovingly. His tongue caresses my lower lip and I open my mouth; his tongue happily goes in. I tug at his t-shirt and we break apart so he can take it over his head. As soon as it is gone he attacks my lips again; this time fiercely. I moan into the kiss and try to pull my shirt over my head. Finnick does not stop kissing me and I cannot get the shirt over my head.

Finnick's hands roam under my shirt as mine explore his chest. He tries to get my shirt off as well but refuses to stop kissing me. Eventually he just rips my shirt open and discards it somewhere on the beach. His hands roam my breasts and I fiddle with his pants. He wiggles out of them and then helps me wiggles out of mine.

He lifts me up off the sand and his hand slide up my back towards my bra, he looks at me for permission and I grant it to him by nodding and then attacking his neck. He gets it off and then lays me back down; next he slips off my underwear. He stops for a moment to examine my body. He goes to touch me but then stops,

"Go ahead," I say.

He touches my breasts and squeezes them, then runs his hands over my stomach, then up my leg until he in at my center. He lie's over me and his hand rubs the insides of my thigh, I kiss his neck and moan as he slips a finger inside of me. Then a second one. I arch into him and my hands tighten on his chest. He pushes the fingers in deeper and then takes them out; I give a slight whimper and then he is kissing my neck again. As he kisses my neck I get him out of his boxers. He takes my nipple into his mouth and sucks on it. It feels amazing!

Finnick then repositions himself in between my legs. He gives me a sweet kiss and asks me,

"Are you sure, Annie?"

I nod, "Make me yours, Finnick."

He does not ask any further questions. He slowly pushes into me and it is unlike any sensation I have ever felt before. He is huge! He fills me up and awakes the parts of me that I myself don't even know about.

"If I hurt you tell me." He whispers in my ear.

He pushes further into me and I moan his name. He pulls out and then pushes back into me. He repeats this motion and I'm practically like mush in his arms. My hands are in his hair and pulling him closer to me for hungry kisses. He pushes into me harder,

"Oh Finnick!" I moan loudly.

He does it again and again. It is such an amazing feeling and I am surprised it does not hurt more. Finnick is panting and so am I. I decide to make a bold move and I place my hands on his chest and push him off me. I roll on top of him and straddle his waist.

I sink onto him and he moans and grabs my hips, guiding me as I ride him. I lean forward and kiss him as I continue to ride him. I am on the verge of coming and I can tell by the look on hi face that he is to. He flips us over so he is on top again and then pushes into me. He does three hard and strong thrusts and then moans,

"Annie come with me," into my ear.

On the last thrust he collapses on top of me and comes inside of me. I come second after and am lost in our moans. Our body's are pushed against each other's. We are hot, sweaty, sticky, and soaking wet. The rain continues to fall on us as we both recover. Finnick is lying on top of me, and my chest rises to meet his.

He moves a wet strand of hair away from my face and kisses my forehead,

"That was amazing." He says.

I nod, "You're amazing. We should do that more often."

Finnick laughs and I smile, "That would be nice." Finnick sits up and pulls me up to meet his face, "We should go swimming."

Finnick carries me, bridal style into the water and we sink into it. He holds me and lets me float beneath the water with my arms around his neck.

"I think I love this beach a lot more now," I say as I let the rain hit my face, "Much more memorable." Finnick kisses me and we remain in each other's arms for thirty more minutes.

By then the water is getting cold and we are both hungry. We go back onto the beach and put our clothes back on, only to realize that I do not have a shirt to wear.

"What are you going to wear to get through town?" Finnick asks me, "I mean, I wouldn't mind you going topless, but that is for my eyes only."

I giggle and put on my bra, then I head over to a log and stick my arm inside of it. I pull out a wooden box and open it. I dig around and pull out a new shirt.

"Problem solved." I say as I put it on. I walk back over to Finnick and hug him, "I'm glad we came here today."

He kisses me, "Same here."

**A/N: Where is Finnick? Odair he is! R&R! XOXO**


	9. Changes

**PLEASE READ AUTHORS NOTE AFTER CHAPTER! :) **

Even though my new house is extremely large and fancy, I find it difficult to breath in. As I lay in bed the walls seem to be closing in on me, I hear noises in the night, and the window overlooking the water is the only place I can look at to bring me peace. I try to keep my eyes on the window and watch the water that is illuminated by the water. I love the ocean because it never ends.

Unlike the Districts the ocean is not guarded by Peacekeepers, the fish in the ocean are not forced to do anything - they are free. I want to be free; I want to be a fish. I want to swim in the ocean forever; I want to swim far, far away from here, I want to live in a world where I can do as I please.

Finnick and I are sitting on a beach and I am in his arms. He holds me close to him, while I hold his hand and rub his hand with my thumb. Our feet are rubbing against each other's and the sun in enveloping us in its warmth.

There is a loud bang behind us, and then the sound of heavy boots running on the ground. We turn around and see a group of Peacekeepers running onto the beach. Finnick pushes me behind him protectively and looks around at all the Peacekeepers. They stop running and form a circle around us. Finnick stands up and then takes my hand and pulls me up.

"Finnick Odair, you are to be executed due to your refusal to work in the Capitol." Says one of them sternly. A Peacekeeper grabs my arm and pulls me backwards roughly.

"Finnick!" I shout and struggle against the Peacekeeper, he smacks me across the face so hard I fall to the ground.

"Annie!" Finnick yells and rushes over to me. The Peacekeepers stands in front of me and blocks Finnick's path. Finnick tries to push past him but he is shoved away by the much larger Peacekeeper.

"Let me through," Finnick growls. When the Peacekeeper does not move Finnick sends a punch into his jaw and the officer stumbles back a bit. Another Peacekeeper takes his gun and hits Finnick in the back with it. Finnick falls to the ground and I scramble to reach him, the Peacekeeper Finnick punched blocks my path.

Finnick stands back up and then another Peacekeeper that was behind him shoots him in the leg. I scream and Finnick gasps in pain. Another officer hits Finnick in the gut and then another in the face. Tears pour down my face as I watch.

Finnick fights back though; he sends punch after punch at any Peacekeeper he can hit. He dodges a few punches and is doing well until a large Peacekeeper hits him in the head with the back of his gun. Finnick collapses, beaten and bloodied. I cry and try to get to him to hold him but again my path I blocked.

"Please don't hurt him," I sob, "Please."

They ignore me and a Peacekeeper I had not seen comes foreword carrying an axe. I jump up and charge for Finnick but the Peacekeeper holds me back. I fight against his grip and kick and scream.

"No, Finnick!" I sob, "Please don't!" I beg.

The Peacekeepers attack Finnick with kicks next and I am forced to watch. I scream and thrash around in the Peacekeepers arms. They back away from Finnick and Finnick still attempts to stand but is just kicked back down.

I am finally released and I rush to Finnick's side. I cry and place a careful hand on his cheek. A tear lands on his face and I continue to hold him and cry.

"I love you," He chokes. I stroke his hair and smile.

"I love you too," I whisper. I wipe my eyes and take his hand in mine. Just as I take my hand away from his face an axe collides with his neck and he is beheaded. I scream as his bloods hits my face and his bloods pours all over the sand. I scream repeatedly and sob. What I have just seen will never be unseen.

"No! Finnick!" I sob as a Peacekeeper grabs me and carries me away, leaving Finnick's corpse on the beach. I kick and claw at the Peacekeepers face. I claw at his face and it comes off. I see his bones and his bloody tissue. I scream and I'm dropped onto the ground. The Peacekeeper chokes and then pukes up blood all over me.

I am now coated in blood and screaming. I crawl away from him as his skin begins to fall off.

"Finnick! Finnick!" I sob, but I know he is not coming. "No!"

"Annie!" Shouts my father, "Annie wake up!" I scream and claw at the air. I hear a hiss of pain and then I am being shaken again.

"No! Finnick! Don't leave me!" I yell, "I'm sorry!" I'm sobbing uncontrollably as my room comes into focus. I look around frantically and spot my father clutching his face and my brother in the corner.

Finnick is dead, Finnick was murdered, and Finnick was beheaded. I cry out Finnick's name and continue to sob.

"Finnick?" I cry, "Where's Finnick?" I say, my voice becoming louder, "Finnick! Finnick! You've killed him, haven't you?" I scream at my father.

"No! Annie, he is across the street. Very much alive." My father reassures me.

"I don't believe you! I saw him, I saw him die!" I wail, I wipe my eyes, crawl out of bed and bolt out of the room. I run down the stairs, out the front door and down the dock. I run until I meet the edge of the dock and then I stop.

I am going to do it - I am going to drown myself so I can be with Finnick. I spread my arms and fall into the water. The water consumes me and I sink down, down, down into the water. I float there, with my eyes open, looking around at the water. It is so dark; I cannot see anything besides endless darkness. I don't know how long I was in the water before I started to loose air. All I know is that I did. It was peaceful though, loosing my breath. A view coughs and then nothing. My eyes close and I fade away.

I'm still alive but I am unconscious. I feel two strong arms around my waist and then I feel air on my face and I am put onto a hard surface. I feel two lips on mine and a hand on my chest. I cough and choke and then I can see again. It is Finnick who sits in front of me.

"Am I dreaming?" I ask.

Finnick shakes his head, he has tears in his eyes, "No," He says, "You aren't dreaming and I am very much alive."

"But I saw you die," I say, confused.

He shakes his head again, "You were dreaming."

I sit up and take his face in my hands, feeling his face, his hair, his arms, and his nose. A smile forms on my lips and I hug him,

"I thought you were dead!" I cry.

Finnick's arms slowly go around my waist, "I'm not, dead." Finnick pulls out of the hug and places a hand on my cheek, "Annie you can't do this again. I mean trying to kill yourself."

"I thought you were dead, I didn't know what else to do." I explain.

Finnick thumbs my cheek, "Annie if you think I am dead again tell your dad to get Finnick."

"My dad?" I whisper, "My dad?"

Finnick's face falls, "Yes, your dad."

"I don't have a dad. I have a mom, her name is Helen and she lives in that house." I point to my house and try to explain it to Finnick.

Finnick falls backwards and his head falls into his hands. I crawl over to him and kiss his shoulder,

"You've met my mom haven't you? Oh, you would love her." I smile at him but then I get worried. "Finnick what's wrong?"

Finnick looks up at me, "Annie, what do you remember?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to you these past few months?" He says next.

I sit back and begin to explain, "Well, I spent a lot of time with Francesca at the beach, then I met you while you were back in town." I smile at the memory, "You took me fishing, and we raced on the beach, and then we kissed." I crawl over to him, "And now we see each other all the time. We are happy together. Aren't we?"

Finnick smiles but it does not reach his eyes, "Yes, of course we are. Annie, I want you to know that I care about you very much. I would do anything for you."

I hug him and he holds me in his arms, I feel something wet hit my cheek and I realize he is crying.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," He says, "I am just glad you're all right. Please don't ever do this again."

"I won't."

"Come over to my house if you want, just don't jump into the water." He says calmly.

I can tell something is wrong with him but I do not know what. We stand up and walk, hand in hand, back to my house. Finnick tells me to stay outside for a few minutes and then goes into the house. I wait patiently and when he comes back out I happily go inside.

I am soaking wet so I go upstairs, shower, and then crawl into bed. Finnick comes into my room and sits on the edge of my bed.

"Could you stay here tonight?" I ask him. "Wait a minute, you're all wet."

He looks at his clothes and stands up and moves away from the bed. I stand up and go over to him. I tell him to take his shirt off and he does, hesitating for a moment. Then I go into my closet and pull out a large t-shirt that I had gotten for my brother. I hand it to him and he puts it on. Then I tell him to take his pants off and he does.

I do not have any pants that will fit him so he just gets into bed with me in his underwear. It is not a big deal though; I have seen him in boxers before. Finnick pulls me into a hug and holds me. I place a hand on his chest and listen to his heartbeat; it is fast and loud.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Nothing." He says and kisses my head, "Get some rest."

The next morning I awake and Finnick is gone. I sit up, stretch my arms, and get out of bed. I put on a pair of shorts and a shirt and then go down stairs. I enter the kitchen and see Finnick sitting with Charlie and another man. I walk over and kiss Finnick on the cheek. I introduce myself to the man,

"Hello, I'm Annie." I shake his hand and his eyes are glassy.

"Charles, nice to meet you."

Finnick looks at him sadly but I ignore it and go to pour myself a glass of water. Charlie looks awkwardly from me to Charles. He shifts uncomfortably in his chair and then nudges Finnick. Finnick looks at him and Charlie nudges his head in my direction. They look as if they are talking in code.

"What's going on?" I ask them, walking back over to where they are sitting. "I don't mean to sound rude, but why is Charles in our house?"

Finnick opens his mouth to say something but Charlie cuts him off, "Because he is your dad!"

"Dad left years ago, before you were born." I reply. Charlie gets up angrily.

"No he didn't! He's lived with us forever."

Finnick places a hand on Charlie's arm and tells him not to yell.

"Charlie, sit down." Charles orders Charlie.

"Don't tell my brother what to do!" I shout, "We don't even know you! Where is mom?"

"Annie," Finnick gets up and comes over to me, he takes the cup out of my hands and set it on the counter, and says, "there is something we have to tell you."

"What?" I say angrily, "I want this man out of my house! Where is my mother?" I shout.

"Annie," Finnick sighs, "Your mother is dead."

"I saw her yesterday, she isn't dead! Mom!" I shout, "Mom!"

"Annie!" Finnick grabs my arms, "She has been gone for years. You're father has raised you on his own since you were little."

"My father left us when I was five!" I grunt angrily.

"Annie, this is your father." Finnick points to Charles, "He raised you."

"No!" I struggle out of his grip and turn to Charles. "Get out of my house!" I shout.

"Annie!" Charlie shouts, "Stop it! Nothing you know is real! Mom died years ago, she was murdered! And Francesca was killed weeks ago! And you and Finnick met—"

"Charlie!" Roars Finnick, "Not now!"

Charlie quiets down and I look at Finnick, "Is he telling the truth?"

Finnick tries to speak but no words come out. I inhale a deep breath and hold back my tears.

"Annie, I'm so sorry." Finnick comes towards me but I push him away, run past him, and go back to my bedroom. Locking myself inside.

I look around my room in a panic; the walls are shrinking, the bed is rumbling, books are flying off the walls, the window shatters, and I collapse onto the ground. I scream and cry. I crawl towards the bathroom and slam the door behind me. I stand up and look in the mirror.

My hair is disheveled and tears are running down my face. I tear down the towels and rip the hanger off the wall, I push everything off the counter and then the mirror explodes. Shards of glass hit me in the face and cut my skin. My arms get sliced and it is all over the floor. I scream and crawl into the bathtub, ripping down the shower curtain on my way. I fall inside and stay there sobbing, not sure what to do, who to trust, or what to believe.

I hear banging on my bedroom door and then a crash. Then the bathroom door flies open and Finnick rushes into the room. He hisses in pain as he steps on the shards of broken mirror. He makes his way over to me and picks me out of the tub, then carries to towards my bed. The room is still shrinking and I try to kick myself out of his arms. I fall to the floor and run out of the house and back down to the dock.

I stop at the edge of the dock, preparing myself to jump. I want to do it, I need to do it—I want to be a fish.

"Annie! Don't do it!" Finnick shouts behind me, he runs up behind me and grabs me. I scream and he holds me in his arms.

"Let me go!" I scream as I pound at his chest with my fists. He lets go of me and I stumble back a bit. I look at him and he looks back at me.

"I want to see my mom," I say, "I want to see her."

"Annie, she isn't—"

"She isn't what?" I scream at Finnick.

"Annie your mom has been dead for years, I'm so sorry."

"No! I don't believe you!" I cry, "I saw her yesterday."

"Annie, you can search every spot in this town and you will not find her." Finnick says softly.

I whimper, "Then why do I remember seeing her yesterday? Why do I have memories of her being with me recently?"

Finnick sighs and shakes his head, "I don't know. But I do know we're going to get through this. Let's just go back inside and we can figure this all out." Finnick sticks his hand out and I take it cautiously. I walk up to him and he puts a protective arm around me.

We walk back into my house, filled with memories I am not aware of, with a man that is supposedly my father, and empty of my mother's presence. I remember just the other day we were down at the beach collecting seashells and basking in the sun. Just the other day my mother was smiling and laughing at me; and just this morning she made me breakfast and told me she loved me. Now, she has been dead for years.

**A/N: Please let me know if you think I should change the point of view from Annie to Finnick and stick with him for a few chapters and then go back to Annie. Also! More reviews will get you the next chapter sooner! R&R :) **


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